A Day In Your Shoes
by verveine
Summary: He was their school's cliche, stereotypically popular jerk. She was their school's ignored, socially awkward nerd. What havoc ensues to these two high schoolers with completely contrasting personalities when they switch bodies? AU; - SxM
1. The One Where They Switch

A** Day** In Your _Shoes_  
_ by:_ verveine

**A/N: This story has been in my head for ages now, I'm glad I could finally write it. Rated T because there's a lot of cursing. Please forgive me if the characters sometimes get super OOC. Hence, the AU sign. **

**Also, does anyone know how I formatted the titles of the chapters in this story? Tell me if you know which show I got it from! :D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater or any characters in Soul Eater. I do own my own story though.**

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**Chapter 1: **The One Where They Switch

It all started on a Friday afternoon.

"_There he goes!_" A girl squealed quietly to an auburn haired girl next to her.

"_He looks so attractive today, too!_" The friend replied back, in an equally high-pitched voice.

There were female voices(and even some male voices) from every corner of the school, gushing about a particular person who was strutting- yes, _strutting_- down the hallway. He had gleaming silver-tinted hair, sparking ruby eyes, and a dashing crooked smile that made girls' hearts melt. His voice was an oxymoron in itself, as it was roughly smooth, gently husky. He was from a wealthy family and had various talents, the most outstanding variable being a genius piano player. He a senior at Death Weapon Meister Academy, and also the single most popular guy in the whole school.

He went by the name Soul Eater Evans.

When he walked by, all eyes were directed to him. Girls literally ripped each other's hair out to get his old textbooks or broken lead pencils. He had the popularity close to that of a movie star.

"He's not that great." A certain dirty-blonde haired girl stated, taking a bite of her sandwich. Before she could continue, however, her raven haired friend quickly shut her up by blocking her mouth with her hands.

"Shhh!" The black-haired teenager warned her blonde friend. "Maka, you do not want his fans to overhear you, you'll get killed."

"But it's true, Tsubaki!" The blonde protested to her friend, putting her sandwich down. "I really don't see what the big deal about him is."

Someone started to pick up on their gossiping, or it might have just been their "Soul" radar, but a few girls started to give Maka an icy cold glare.

"Haha, yeah, I don't see the big deal out of Kid either." Tsubaki replied back nervously, loud enough for the girls that were glaring their way to hear. They rose their eyebrows, but eventually went on with their business. Tsubaki sighed in relief when she realized no one was listening to them anymore.

"Why are you guys talking about me?" An annoyed voice asked from behind. Maka turned around to see her other raven haired friend behind her, carrying his lunch in a tray.

"Hey!" Maka said rather shocked. "It didn't take as long as it usually does to get your lunch today! How did you get here so fast? Decided to stop your symmetry crap?"

"Maka!" The boy harshly said, before pushing her so he would fit in the table where the three of them crammed in. "First of all, symmetry is not crap; it's a work of art. Secondly, I got this lunch fast because it's a sandwich, it already has perfect symmetry...as opposed to the spaghetti dish. I still have nightmares about that one." He stopped and shuddered at the thought, proving his point. "Thirdly, why were you talking about me?"

"We weren't, I was just saving Maka from dying an untimely and gruesome death," Tsubaki told Kid, chewing on her french fries.

"I was just telling Tsubaki here," Maka started, before realizing that she might really get killed from various eyes that she could feel were on her. She lowered her voice many octaves down. "I was just telling Tsubaki that I think Soul Evans is way too overrated. He's not even that great, yet girls are willing to kill themselves over him."

Kid showed his disapproval of Soul by making a funky face at the thought.

"He really is not that great," Kid agreed, carefully unwrapping his turkey sandwich. "He seems like a pompous bastard."

"Right?" Maka wholeheartedly agreed happily. Kid looked up at her with his brilliant sunny gold eyes and smiled.

It was always the three of them- Maka, Kid, and Tsubaki. Actually, Tsubaki was a rather recent attachment. During the Freshman year of high school, Maka and Kid were best friends. Kid automatically befriended her because she was the epitome "perfect symmetry" in a human. She befriended him because...well, he was her only option really. She was quiet, shy, and had terrible socializing skills. If people gave her a chance and got to know her, they would find out she was actually quite loud, had a short temper, and shockingly cursed a lot. A _whole_ lot. But no one bothered to deal with her, and her existence was only acknowledged because of her high grades. Kid, who a lot of girls were interested in at first because of his good looks, lost his popularity due to his compulsive disorder for symmetry. They were both the outcasts of the school, not welcome to single clique, so they became close friends.

Tsubaki came during the Junior year, and while she was a year older than them, she was put in the same grade as them. She had moved from Japan, and although she spoke perfect English, the school decided that she needed to get left back a year. It was quite foolish because Tsubaki was an extremely bright student, but Tsubaki didn't mind it too much. Although Tsubaki did not have any friends at first because she came so late, and everyone already had close friends, she eventually friended Maka and Kid. She liked them a lot, and they liked her a lot in return. It was thanks to being left back that she was able to meet them, so she was ultimately thankful for it.

"Maka, you only hate him this much because he gets higher grades than you in Music class." Tsubaki argued warily.

"Not true!" She quickly retorted back, annoyed that she had been found out so easily. While Maka was so brilliant at the sciences and math that no one was able to pose as threat to her number one student position, he always got higher grades than her in music. She studied and studied music, but he just had a natural talent. That was actually what irked her the most- the fact that she had to study so hard to understand the concept of music while it just naturally flowed to him. It was completely unfair, which eventually lead to her dislike of Soul Evans to gradually increase more and more.

"It is true, you complain about it all the time. What other reason do you have to hate Soul Evans? You never even spoke a single word to him in the past year I have been here," Tsubaki reminded her. "Not that he speaks to anyone, really."

And that was yet another reason Maka hated Soul Eater Evans so much. Not only did he steal her crown in being the top student in every class, he acted like a total jerk. He never spoke to anyone, and always ignored those who tried to be his friend. Couldn't he be a_ bit_ more friendly? Would it hurt to try to break down the terribly cheesy high school cliques their school had?

"His existence just bothers me, I don't have a specific reason. He just bothers me." Maka cut the rather dislikable conversation she was clearly losing. The minute Maka finished her sentence, the bell rang, signaling them that it was the end of the period.

"Well, have fun! You have class with him now, don't you?" Tsubaki grinned, causing Maka to be exasperated beyond belief.

Yes, Maka had just thought of yet another reason she disliked Soul Evans so much- he was everywhere. Literally, _everywhere_. She had all the same classes as him, and while he sat far away from her most of the time, they were only one seat away from each other in English class. Which was what she had _now_.

The blonde groaned at the thought of being within a 10 feet radius of the silver-haired annoyance, as she picked up her book bag and slung it across her thin shoulders.

"Good luck." Kid sympathized with Maka, as he gave her an uncertain half-smile. He patted the top of her shoulders before he walked away.

For some odd reason, Maka had a presentiment, a tingling feeling at the pit of her stomach that she should avoid English class that day. But she chose to ignore the feelings, and quickly left the cafeteria. The meat in the sandwich was just weird, she convinced herself.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Hello class!" The teacher chirped brightly to her dead class. Almost no one replied back, and the few people who did muttered incomprehensible words. The platinum blonde haired teacher, however, didn't let the response lower her mood down in the least. In fact, she was used to the half-dead class. She learned from the beginning of the school year that they were a bunch of unenthusiastic teenagers who behaved liked this on a daily basis.

"I know you guys are all bored." The teacher continued on. "But today I have a really exciting project for you all!"

There were moans and groans escaping from practically every corner of the room.

"No, no! Really, it's fun!" The teacher tried to reassure her students to calm down. "Let me just finish!"

The class simmered down, although their faces were filled with disgust.

"It's called the Flour Sack Baby Project!" The overly excited teacher exclaimed. The students actually started to look a little more intrigued. "I will assign you with a partner, and you two will have to take care of a flour sack for a week! You must treat it like it is your own baby, and keep it safe. If you rip it or lose it before a week ends, there will be consequences." Her eyes dimmed in such particular way when she said "consequences," that a few students were intimidated. Soul could have almost sworn she was looking directly at him when she said it, but then she quickly gave the same look to pigtails, so he decided not to worry too much.

"Now, I have the names of all the boys in this class inside this hat," the teacher informed them. "There are shockingly an equal amount of girls and boys in this class, so it will work out smoothy. The girls come up to draw a name in the hat, and whoever they pick out will be their partners. No trading partners, no matter what," the teacher firmly ordered.

Although most of the class were eager to actually have a remotely fun project, Maka felt absolutely miserable. This meant that she would have to communicate and socialize with another student in the English class. She hated making new acquaintances, and when the teacher told the girls to get on line to pick a name, she was the last one on the line.

"I hope I get Soul!" A girl next to Maka gushed. Maka's heart stopped at what she just heard. What if _she_ got Soul? How would she have to deal with hanging around him for a whole week?

"We're at the back of the line, someone would probably get him before us," another girl replied back with a sad sigh. Maka sighed along with the girl, but a relieved sigh. She was right- they were at the end of the line. Someone would have probably drawn out his name by the time it came for Maka to pick. Well, actually, Maka did not have the option of picking since she was last in line, but she didn't mind it at all. It increased the chances of her not getting Soul as her partner greatly.

The line moved on rapidly, and not a word about getting Soul was sprouted. All the girls looked disappointed in their 'baby's fathers,' but all of that flew by Maka's eyes. She was getting more nervous by the passing girls. Soul Evans was not picked yet, and the chances of Maka having him as partner were increasing. When the girl right in front of Maka went, they both closed their eyes and prayed- one praying to receive the Soul Evans card, the other one praying she didn't.

The girl reached into the black hat, and after what seemed like forever, she fished out a label. With trembling hands, she unfolded the paper.

"...Ox." The pink haired girl revealed her partner quietly, with tears at the tip of her eyes. Maka could feel tears forming in her eyes too.

"So it's settled! Ox and Kim, Soul and Maka. All the partners have been recorded down in my book, so don't even try to change your partner if you don't want a zero for this major assignment."

"But Ms. Nablar, I really think Maka doesn't want Soul to be her partner!" One girl shouted.

"Yeah! Look at Maka, she looks almost pained!"

"I would take Soul! Please, let me take Soul! I'll treat him right!" Another invoked.

The worn-out woman gave her class an icy glare before she loudly closed her class recording book.

"No. Changing. Partners," the teacher strictly answered. Her glassy green eyes looked at her students with pure hate, and the students immediately shut up. When she saw that her students finally quieted down, her eyes softened and she smiled as she told them, "Go get your flour babies now! From today to next week Friday, you will keep this safe, yes? Now go to your partner and discuss how you will be taking care of your babies."

Maka, avoiding a certain pest called her partner, slowly walked up to her teacher. The teacher glanced at Maka slightly and smiled.

"What is it, Maka?"

"It's just..." Maka hesitated. "I don't see what this project has anything to do with English."

"It doesn't." Ms. Nablar replied immediately, her smile never fading. "It has to do with building better relationships."

"What do you mean?" Maka asked out of curiosity.

"I mean I'm trying to make it so that all students can get closer with others by the end of senior year." the blonde teacher stated, winking at her. It was a terrifying yet calming wink, almost as if she was gently mocking Maka. "_Kissing might be involved..._"

"What?" Maka asked, her eyes widening. Did her teacher just say...?

"Nothing, now you have work to do. Go talk to your partner," Ms. Nablar told her. The elder woman gently pushed Maka towards Soul, who sat on his desk with his head down.

Maka grunted, as she walked closer towards the sleeping menace. She shook him in disgust, causing a few girls who were nearby to gasp. Maka bluntly ignored them, as she was already annoyed as hell. If one more of his cronies gave her a hard time, she would punch their faces in.

"Wha...?" He looked up at her lazily, as his deep scarlet eyes met her harsh mint green ones.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." She growled, her hands crossed at her chest. "So what do you want to do about the project?"

"Do whatever," he replied, lowering his head again to fall back asleep. She huffed in absolute annoyance.

"Just as I thought, from afar and from near- you're an annoying piece of fuck." She said it to herself, but just loud enough so that he, and only he could hear. His head shot up at the comment, surprised that such an innocent face had just cursed, and was ready to question her but she had already walked away from him to receive a flour baby. He saw her reach for a bag in the closet, but the teacher stopped her and handed her a different bag instead. Maka raised her eyebrows at the teacher's sudden change in bags, but took it anyways. Instead of returning back to Soul, however, she sat back down in her own seat.

Soul, indignant that some loser girl had just dissed him, walked to her desk. It only took two steps, as he was one seat away from her.

"I don't think I heard you clearly," the silver haired boy told the blonde in front of him. "What did you say? Repeat it?"

Girls in the classroom stopped to stare at Soul. It was the first time they ever saw him talk to a girl, and with this many dialogue! They were in shock.

"Leave me alone. Go away," she ordered him, not even bothering to look up at him. She stared at the flour baby in front of her. Although the packaging was the same, the bag she picked out was considerably heavier than the one Ms. Nablar gave her.

"We kind of have to do a project together," he reminded her. His voice got rougher.

"You were the one who told me to do whatever," she retorted back, her eyes not once leaving the flour bag. He was ready to protest, when the bell rang and she sprinted out of the room, holding the flour packet in her hands.

"Dammit!" He muttered to himself, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. He would find her, and make her pay for saying such things to yours truly.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"You what?" Tsubaki exclaimed, her eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"Yeah, I was so aggravated before, and I ended up just saying whatever was on my mind. But after seeing all these death glares I've been getting ever since, I regret being so rash." Maka bashfully told her two friends, closing her locker door.

"Well, I think that you did a good thing," Kid encouraged her. "He needs to step down his pedestal at one point and come back to earth. He needs to realize that he's not a prince or that great; if at all."

"You think so?" Maka asked, feeling a little more relieved. Maka had miserably spent rest of her day eschewing a certain senior with ash gray hair.

"I know so." Kid reassured her. "Anyways, what are you going to name that_ thing_?" He pointed to her sack of flour.

School had just finished, and the three of them stopped by their lockers to get ready to go home. They all lived relatively close to each other, so they walked home together too.

"Huh. I don't know...I guess since I'm a single mo-" Maka stopped dead on her tracks. Tsubaki's already saucer-sized eyes magnified, and Kid looked absolutely revolted.

Around the corner, waiting for them- rather, a single certain blonde, was the infamous Soul Eater Evans. His arms were crossed against his chest, and he was leaning on the wall. He saw Maka, who looked horrified, and his facial expression changed to that of a tiger spotting his prey.

"I need to talk to your friend," he simply stated. Before any of them could protest, he tightly grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Ow, let go of me!" Maka cried, finally pulling her wrist free from his clutches. He had dragged her to a completely empty lot near the school yard.

"What you said to me has been bothering me all day." He spoke in a voice that he tried to maintain monotone, but she could easily detect the anger blended in. "I'm an annoying _what_?"

"I don't know, I forgot what I said." Maka told him off, lying through her teeth. She looked down at her shoes.

"Fine, then let's pretend you forgot," he continued. "Then what about our project? I thought it was some partnership shit, why are you leaving me out of it?"

"You were the one who told me to do whatever!" She repeated, looking up at his eyes now in fury. Why did she have to hide her head in shame? He _was_ an annoying piece of fuck, and he _was_ the one who acted like a complete jerk when she was trying to be civil.

"You called me Sleeping Beauty, of course I would tell you off," he acerbically reminded her. His face turned sour at the memory.

_Oh yeah._ She had completely forgotten about that...

"W-Well." She stuttered. "You kept sleeping, not even paying attention to what was happening."

"Like a care about that shitty class anyways," he scoffed. He yawned. "Now, give me the flour baby, pigtails."

"Pigtails?" Maka scorned at his lack of remembering other people's names. "The name's Maka."

"I know what your name is, I would just rather call you pigtails, pigtails."

"Fine, Menace."

"Menace?" he asked her, not exactly sure where she got that name. He shook off his confusion. "Forget it, I will never get weirdos like you anyways. Just give me the flour."

"What? Why?"

"I'm going to just rip it," he calmly told her. She looked at him with anger in her eyes.

"_What_?" She challenged him to dare repeat his gibberish again.

"You heard me, I'm going to just rip it," he repeated. "That way, we won't have to hang out with each other anymore. I can't stand the thought of being with a nerd like you for a whole week, and I highly doubt you would want to spend time with annoying piece of fuck like me. So let's just tear it now, so there is no pressure. It's too bad about the failing grade but..."

Maka looked at him with her wide, fierce green eyes. How was it possible to hate someone to this extent? She was paralyzed from her shock, and she didn't notice him eying the flour baby she had set on the floor before talking to him until he grabbed it. When she saw him holding it, the blood rushed back to her head again, and she grabbed it back. Well, tried to.

His hands were gripped firmly on the flour, and he was not willing to let go.

"Let...go...!" Maka cried, pulling the flour as hard as she can. He replied by continuing to tightly keep his hands gripped on the flour.

As one should know, a flour packaging, especially one that is paper packaged, is not firm at all and if two huge forces are pulling at it from opposite sides, it is bound to rip.

And that's exactly what happened. The flour bag ripped into two, Maka and Soul both tripping from the impact of a sudden release of pressure. However, instead of the expected powdery white ingredient coming out, sparkling gold powder spread everywhere. Maka and Soul both looked at the foreign substance in complete confusion, before their eyes grew itchier, and they started to sneeze.

"_Ahchoo_!" Maka sneezed, her eyes watering from the gold glitter. What _was_ that substance? Maka felt her cheeks burning red hot, and for a split moment, the world went black. When she regained her vision, she noticed the substance was gone and the fog left behind by the mysterious powder was starting to clear.

Maka was needless to say, furious. Actually, furious would be a total understatement. She was livid- absolutely, completely, utterly, and totally livid.

She had enough of him, and wondered how it was possible that a person could be_ this _hateful. She execrated him to the point of even thinking of starting a goddamn vendetta with him. She was sick of him. She was sick of this project. She was sick of that stupid English teacher.

Through her sedulous efforts of breaking night to study for tests, she was able to remain being at the top of her class. She hated how she had worked so hard to keep up her grades, to be number one, and he was ruining them one by one. The fog cleared down, and Maka was about to tongue slash him like he never heard cursing before, when her mouth dropped open to the figure in front of her.

"M...M...Me? Huh?" She heard the words escape from her mouth, but in a voice much deeper than hers. She quickly put her hands, which felt rougher and bigger, over her hands in shock. There was a groan that escaped and Maka quickly looked up. She gasped.

The person in front of her was_...herself_? She moved closer to the girl in front of her, who had a completely dazed look on her face and looked exactly like her. If she didn't know any better, she would say it was herself. But Maka knew that it was impossible- it was impossible that was herself because _here_...

Wait. _What?_

Maka looked down at herself, despite being in a torpor. She wasn't wearing any of her old clothes, but they looked oddly familiar. They were... that _asshole_ _Soul_'s clothes. Wait, _wait_...Maka felt her head grow heavy and the world sinning. What the hell was happening? How was she there when she was here? Where did Soul go?

After five minutes, everything clicked in Maka's head, which ultimately led her to scream her lungs- or rather, Soul's lungs out. The shriek was enough to bring the dazed Soul, who was still having side effects from whatever the gold powder was, back to attention.

The murky green eyes he had cleared, and his face scrunched up as he stared at Maka. The face in front of him was..._himself_? Soul was nonplussed, and was about to say something when he realized that hair was reaching the side of his face. And it was _blonde_. His emerald eyes widened, as he slowly looked down at himself. When he finally got grasp of the situation, and he was reassured he was not high on the powder he just sniffed, three words escaped his lips.

"What the _fuck_?"

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**A/N: How was it...? Review please! :) **


	2. The One Where They Find A Cure

**Thank you to: **Tatsu-Ah-Rei, booknoodles, mysoulyoursoul, crazychick1313, Sergeant Daniel, Lilith Shiro, Luminous Snow, cheng, Miyaow, GrossGirl18, && arkee. C:

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**Chapter 2: **The One Where They Find A Cure

"What the_ fuck_?" Soul repeated, his forest green eyes still in shock from the epiphany that he just switched bodies with the girl.._.guy_ in front of him?

Maka gave him an incredulous stare.

"This...this is not possible," she managed to gasp out. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. The voice that came out of her mouth was definitely_ not _hers. It was a nice voice, she had to admit, but it was just way too weird to speak in a voice that did not belong to her.

"Well, believe it. This is basically a huge "fuck you" kick in your lover science's balls right here," Soul told Maka. Her own green eyes stared up at her icily.

"How can you be so calm?" She shrieked in his voice. Her scarlet eyes looked at him in panic.

"Okay, you have to stop looking like that. You're actually making my face look ugly," he flatly told her. She kicked him in the shin, and he scowled in pain. "You realize you are the one who is bruising yourself, right? You masochist!"

"I'm not making your face look ugly, it just always looks like that," she mercilessly insulted him. She ignored his last comment.

"Speak for yourself," he growled. He did not like the way his voice sounded so nonthreatening; it was way too high pitched. He couldn't stand it. "What the hell are we going to do? I don't think I can stand this...this _change_. How did we switch in the first place?"

"Wow, for someone who is known for barely speaking, you sure do whine like a bitch."

"_What?_" He looked at her with a flabbergasted expression. He couldn't believe his ears- first she had yelled at him for being too ambivalent about the whole situation, and now she was yelling at him for being too emotional.

"Stop asking me 'what' 'what' 'what' all day! What are you, deaf? I told you that you complain like a bitch!" She snapped. "The worse part is that you probably heard me, so why are you keep asking me to repeat myself?"

"Wow, Black Star was totally right. It's always the ones who you would_ least _expect to have the worst tempers ever."

"Of course you would mention your gay lover into this."

"Wha-" he stopped himself just in time. He looked at her harshly instead, with his lips tightly closed shut. He decided it was time they switched the topic, or he might have gotten violent. With a _girl _no less. How uncool."I bet that idiot teacher has something to do with this, remember how she changed the flour bags?"

Maka slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah, at first I chose my own bag, but she stopped me and gave me the most ominous smile ever before handing me a different bag," she recalled.

"Then it's settled! We'll go talk to her right now," he decided. He took her by her wrists, which were considerably larger now. It was quite an awkward scene for Soul, as he dragged his own body around.

Maka mindlessly followed him, before she suddenly escaped his tight grip. He stared at her, and before he could ask what was wrong, she spoke first. "The teacher went home already, I saw her leaving in her car eighth period."

"Then you mean we have to wait a whole _day_ before we can switch back?" He complained. "Can't you think of anything, anything at all? Some clues from something she said? Think!"

Her burgundy eyes shot him a look of annoyance, but she did as he ordered her to. After all, she was just as desperate as he was to switch back. Her mind was drawing a blank as she rewinded the brief conversations she had with the teacher. Ten minutes passed, and Soul was growing increasingly impatient, when he saw Maka widen her eyes and gasp.

"What?" He inquired. "Did you think of something?"

She blushed, and her face turned a deep crimson shade. She cleared her throat, not sure how she was going to tell him without sounding infatuated with him in the least.

"I...I..." She stammered. She just couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him she might have found the cure, especially when the cure was...

"What? Just spit it out already."

"S-She well, uh," she stuttered. She took a deep breath, and bravely continued on. "Well, I asked her how that stupid flour baby project had anything to do with English class, and she said it doesn't; apparently it has to do with socializing and creating better bonds...A-and then she whispered something about..."

"About?"

"About..._kissing,_" she finally blurted out.

He raised his eyebrows at her, before he looked at her with his traditional crooked smile that somehow Maka's face was able to pull off perfectly.

"Oh, I see what you're trying to do," he grinned at her. His cocky smile never once left his face. Maka looked at him uncomfortably, as she shifted a few more feet away from him. Truthfully, although it was her own face, she was frightened by the expressions that were painted on it at that moment.

"What are you talking about?" She didn't want him to actually reply; she was afraid to know his answer.

"You're just making up an excuse about what the teacher said so you could make out with me," he told her triumphantly. His smile widened at the look of horror on her face.

"_What_?"

"You heard me, and you know I'm right. I just _knew _I was too irresistible to not attract your attention. So you were one of _those_ girls- the ones that play hard to get, huh? To think I almost fell fo-_OW_!" He groaned, his hands immediately rubbed the throbbing pain on his shin. He glared at her. "Have you not heard of using_ words_? You violent little-"

He stopped his lecturing when it dawned him that she had already walked away from him, her hands angrily on her hips. He stared at her backside, which was technically his, and almost gagged at the way she was making him look. He rapidly ran up to her.

"Don't. Put. Your. Hands. On. Your. Hips. With. My. Body." He threateningly ordered her. He tightly grabbed her wrists. "You're making me look incredibly gay."

"And that is different from the normal how...?"

"I swear, if it doesn't work, I'm going to take it that my theory was right and you are obsessed with me."

"If what doesn't wo-"

She couldn't complete her sentence, as her mouth was blocked by his rather chapped lips. He had tiptoed on his feet and kissed her. It was the strangest feeling, kissing and being kissed by their own selfs.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, and they instantly detached from each other. Maka looked at Soul, who looked at her back. Maka felt her palms get sweaty, as she saw her own face give her a face of pure win and evil.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I knew it!" He cried out into the darkness once again, as they walked down the pitch black street. The dim lampposts and the weak glow of the moon were their only sources of light. "You were trying to seduce me by using the lamest excuse_ ever_! A kiss being the cure my ass!"

"You say that one more time..." Maka grunted through her clenched teeth.

"I bet you just wanted your first kiss to be with someone like me, and you saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime," he mocked.

"Like hell you were my first kiss!" She snickered in reply.

"Like hell I wasn't!" He snickered back.

"Don't be delusional- you would not be _alive_ right now if you stole my first kiss," she informed him. She crammed her hands into the leather pockets. "But I wouldn't be surprised if I was_ your _first kiss."

"M-my first kiss?" He stammered. A slight blush crawled up his face. "D-Don't be ridiculous. Besides, even if you were- which I assure you, you totally are NOT- it would only be because all the girls I know are absolutely disgusting. Why would I want to kiss any of their revolting caked-with-lipgloss lips?"

It was a freezing winter night, and Maka could feel wind seeping through Soul's thin leather jacket. She tried to keep her shivering body as warm as possible as she kept her hands inside her pockets the whole walk. After a huge argument an hour ago about who would go to who's house, Maka gave up from exasperation. Now here she was, forced to go home with the detestable Soul Eater Evans.

"_Ahem_." Soul coughed, trying to break the thick layer of discomfort that had surrounded them. She had gone silent, and Soul who didn't know it was because she was too cold to engage in a conversation, decided he need to switch the subject. "Shouldn't you be calling your parents? Telling them that you won't be coming home tonight?"

"I live by myself," she monotonously told him. Her eyes dulled, and her face gave off a melancholy vibe. He looked up at her with curiosity brimmed eyes, but decided not to ask further. Why should he care about this loser anyways?

When they finally reached his home, Maka gasped in shock. He did not live in a house- he lived in a freaking _mansion_. All the rumors and tales of his grandiose house were not exaggerated in the least. There was a huge black gate in the front, and she could see miles of breathtaking garden work. The garden was adorned with a plethora of colorful and beautiful flowers, and the aroma was enticing. Maka had better eyesight than an average person, and she quickly spotted a pool at the back of the large estate. There were marble statues all around, and there was a path studded in a famous rock design that lead to the mansion. Soul buzzed himself in, and Maka weakly followed after him. Suddenly, he felt like a much more intimidating person.

The mansion itself was huge, and Maka felt hopelessly small standing in front of it. Maka was in awe that such an architect could come up with such captivating features and was admiring its magnificence, but Soul casually barged through the doors. A few maids came and greeted Maka, before staring at Soul with a puzzled face.

"Young master Soul, what is that girl doing here?" An older woman in a formal suit asked Maka, but her eyes flickered over to Soul.

"I _live_ here," Soul irritatedly stated, before the voice that came out reminded him that he was not himself at the moment.

"She's a guest!" Maka interrupted, shutting Soul up. "We have uh, a project to do together. She's going to spend the night here." Maka laughed nervously.

The old woman arched her eyebrows at Soul, looking at him with a disapproving face. Soul felt anger bubbling inside of him- how _dare _a lowly maid look at him that way?

"If I may be so rude to ask, exactly what kind of project will you students be..._performing_?" She questioned their relationship with a voice coated in accusation.

"None of your business," Soul firmly stated. He looked up at the old maid with frosted leafy green eyes.

"What a rude child!" The woman harshly whispered to no one in particular, before she rapidly retreated away. The look on the blonde girl's face scared the poor elder- it reminded her too much of the young master for some odd reason.

Maka was about to scold Soul for being so rude, especially to a senior, but before she could say anything, he grabbed her wrist and led her upstairs to his room.

"Stop dawdling, and follow me."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"So what exactly is the plan again? Run it through me again," Soul yawned. He slouched down further into his beanbag chair.

They were both inside Soul's room, which Maka found to be shockingly likable. It was a music-oriented room and something about it made it warm and homey, despite the fact that it was bigger than her whole apartment. His room was a mélange of formal suits, posters of famous musicians, and a huge bookshelf filled with thick music books. The furniture was accompanied by deep purple and red wallpapers. The piano in the corner practically screamed out 'Soul Eater Evans.'

"We arrive to school early and then talk to Ms. Nablar. We'll force her to revert us back to normal, no matter what the methods may be," the silver-haired girl told the uninterested blonde in front of her. Her last words had a sharp spike of threat in them. "Then, we switch back and we pretend we don't know each other like before. We'll have nothing to do with each other anymore! It's a happy ending!" Maka eagerly told him her plans.

"And if Ms. Nablar isn't there early in the morning?" He curiously asked, sinking down even deeper into his beanbag chair.

"Then we have to make it by English class!" Her fire red eyes burned with passion. "We have to try our best to act like each other, okay?"

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. All you have to do is ignore people all day..." He thought about it, and instantly looked up at her. He caught her eyes filled with hesitation, and his minty green eyes hardened. "I mean it. Ignore _everyone_. That's the only way no one would suspect anything- don't be out of character," he strictly told her. "Don't cramp my style by actually communicating with..._them_."

"Them?" She pondered out loud.

"I mean those annoying pesks who keep following me everywhere, telling me they love me." His face scrunched up, repulsed by the thought of his overly obsessive fans.

"Don't worry, I have terribly socializing skills anyways. I won't bother to talk to any of them...but..."

"But?"

"But...can't I just tell Tsubaki and Kid about what happened? This situation?"

He stared at her with his eyes half closed, not even bothering to give her a proper answer. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, why not?" She argued. "They're my best friends! They deserve to know!"

"Not going to happen." He firmly stated. He got up from the beanbag chair and moved to his bed, his eyes completely closed the minute he laid down.

"Ugh, fine!" She gave up. "But promise you won't say anything I wouldn't, or do anything weird to them during lunch! I can keep an eye on you during in all my other classes, but lunch is the one class where we're totally separated- don't do anything strange. I meant it," she warned.

"Yeah, yeah," he lazily replied. He covered his eyes with a pillow. Her words went in one ear and out the other.

"Wait, don't fall asleep yet!" She shouted, startling his drowsy state. "Where am I going to sleep?"

"The floor?"

"What?" Her eyes flashing in anger at his direction. That bastard! He forced her to come his house, completely starved her, and now he wasn't going to even offer her a comfortable stay? The _floor_? Ha, as if.

"Oh...okay..." Maka started, her voice sorrowful in a noticeably artificial way. "I guess I'll sleep on the floor, no big deal. So what if my back starts aching the next day and bugs bite me? So what if I catch a cold from sleeping on the rock-hard freezing floor? It's not my body after all. My body is kept safe and comfortable, all warm and cozy in that wonderfully oversized bed you have over there."

Maka smiled when Soul shot up at her logical statement. He snarled, and didn't even bother to reply back. Instead, he just grabbed her wrists- for the millionth time that day it seemed- with his half-opened eyes and pulled her close to him in his bed. Maka flushed red and felt hot, and she was about to punch his face in for trying such a bold move on her, when it dawned her that he had already fallen asleep. She sighed, knowing she lost completely and slowly drifted off to sleep, wrapped around his arms in warmth.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

The next day, everyone gawked at the fact that the popular Soul Eater Evans came to school together with the what's-her-face Albarn. They were both messes, as the morning was a rough start. Maka had shrieked when Soul told her that he needed to go to the bathroom. She did _not_ want him see her _anything_, so she had to stay in the bathroom with him to make sure he didn't look down at all. The old maid who woke them up saw them in bed together, and assumed the worst. All throughout breakfast, Soul (who was trapped in Maka's body) received numerous death glares and bashing. The maid constantly whispered in his ear that he was a whore and gold-digger. It was _not _a pleasant experience.

The problems escalated when Soul refused to wear Maka's trademark pigtails. She had to chase him around his huge room for twenty minutes with a brush in her hand, swearing she will get him to wear her pigtails no matter what. In the end she got her wish, but it was terribly lopsided and messy. By the time they got to school, they were both thoroughly worn out.

"Move outta the way, you bunch of ingrates," Soul barked. He pushed a few noisy girls away. The girls looked gave him a dirty look, before diverting their attentions to Maka with adoring eyes. Soul couldn't help but find the scene way too ironic. He turned over to Maka, who was staring widely in shock at her sudden increase of admirers, and rolled his eyes. "Let's hurry up and talk to Ms. Nablar, we need to find a cure," he reminded her. His harsh voice brought her back to reality. "And please get rid of that ridiculous face you have plastered on, you're cramping my style."

She glared at his rudeness, but proceeded to follow him regardless of his nasty temper. They walked to the English room, but it was dark, locked, and vacuous. Maka sighed, knowing this was already a bad sign. She had that terrible tingling feeling in her chest again, and she did not like it one bit.

"Maybe she's in the main office?" Maka begged to herself, before walking towards the way of the main office. Soul sluggishly followed after her.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"What just happened?" Tsubaki wondered out-loud, her brain still not fully able to digest everything that had just happened.

"I have no idea." Kid answered with a hint of frustration outlining his tone of voice. "But that asshole better not lay a hand on Maka."

Tsubaki nodded, silently agreeing to her black-haired acquaintance next to her. Maka was very important to the both of them, and if he did anything weird to her, it was going to be war.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"What do you mean that Ms. Nablar_ quit _yesterday?" Maka yelled. She rubbed her temples in shock and pain. Soul looked equally as distressed, but had better control of his temper.

"Calm down Soul," the security plainly told Maka. "We were shocked too, she just quit yesterday afternoon. No one expected her to leave, she just handed us a letter and left."

Maka started to grab bunches of her silver-tinted hair and pulled on them.

"What are we going to do?" She whined, ignoring the disturbed look the security guard tossed her way.

"...wait!" The security guard suddenly stopped them, halting their conversation. Her face looked like it was trying to remember something important. "Are you students Soul Eater Evans and Maka Albarn?"

"Yeah?" They both answered in unison.

"Oh, Ms. Nablar actually left a letter for you two before she left," the security lady informed them. The worker dug through her desk to find the paper.

Soul and Maka glanced at each other anxiously when the guard pulled out a thin, crumpled yellow envelope. Both their names were written in familiar, fancy cursive on the front of the envelope. Maka shakily took the letter.

They sat down on a couch that was near the entrance of their school, and just stared at the worn out envelope. When the tension was too much to bear, and Soul nodded at her in approval, Maka tore open the envelope. A single letter flew out, and their eyes rapidly traced the words on the small piece of paper.

_When there is a sudden explosion of air,  
__There will be a switch neither can bear.  
__A bolt of adrenaline from the touch of lips  
__Will release this restricted curse and it flips.  
__Do be warned not to fall into the devil's temptation,  
__Wait exactly twenty-four hours before the next sensation. _

Maka slowly looked up at Soul, who returned her bewildered expression.

"I...don't understand," Soul broke the long silence.

Maka didn't reply, but acknowledged what he said by nodding. She was deep in thought and her ruby eyes diluted into a more watery color. She was in the same position for ten minutes, occasionally reading the letter over, before she abruptly looked up, her eyes gleaming.

The blonde happily squealed, "I think I solved it!"

"Elaborate?"

"I think I get her riddle- and also proof that I was definitely _not_ trying to seduce you!"

Soul raised his eyebrows in disbelief and amusement. "Continue..."

"Look, it says 'sudden explosion of air'- what could that mean?" She rhetorically asked him. "Well, what did we do before we switched bodies?"

Soul thought about it for a minute before he replied. "We were pulling on the flour bag and it ripped...?"

Her face scrunched up at the sour memory. "After that."

"...you started yelling?"

"No you nitwit, we_ sneezed,_" she reminded him. She stood up from the couch they were sitting on and loomed in front of him. It was a weird feeling, he thought, seeing so much of his own face in one day.

"Okay, so?" Maka looked at the ivory hair-colored boy in ignorance.

"Basically, every time we sneeze, we switch bodies," she explained. He bobbed his head up and down as a signal that he understood. "And every time we kiss, the switch will be cured!"

Soul dropped that coy grin of his her way again.

"Reminder, we tried that and it didn't work. Are you trying to se-" Before he could complete his sentence, she smacked him over his head.

A few girls who walked into the school at that moment gasped.

_"Did you see that? Soul just hit a girl!" _Soul overheard.

_"I never...I never expected him to be the abusing type!" _

_"Well, he has to have some imperfection, men don't come that perfect!" _

_"But he's always so quiet..." _

_"Black Star told me once it's always the ones you least expect it to be the worst ones..." _

_"Ah, who cares! I still want him and his whole abusing self." _

Soul grew hot at the conversation that erupted a few feet away from him, and he heatedly stared up at Maka in a ferocious manner.

"Stop hitting me." He hissed through his teeth, glaring at her cocky smile.

"Why? Don't like your image being ruined?" She teased him, putting on the same expression he had on when he mockingly told her that she was trying to "seduce" him.

"Just_ stop_ _it,_" he ended. "Anyways, so you were saying something about the cure?"

"Yeah, a kiss. A kiss is the cure, but we can't kiss before twenty-four hours- a day- is up, or we don't switch back. So we have to kiss to cure the spell, but only when a whole day has passed." She fully explained their circumstances. She showed her distaste about the thought of kissing him by a faked gag motion.

He looked at her with an playful smile tugging the side of lips.

"And how can I be sure that this is not another scheme of yours to kiss me?"

She smacked him even harder, causing his smile to immediately change into a frown.

"We just have to make sure we get through this school day, and we're done. We can do that terrible..." She tried to look at him in disgust, but it was hard considering it was her own face that innocently stared back at her. "..._deed_ again, and we'll be done, _free_!"

"Yeah, except you said every time we sneeze we switch back again," he pointed out.

"Don't sneeze," she blatantly told him.

"How am I going to resist a sneeze?"

"Resist it," Maka strictly ordered. Right then the bell rang and she briskly walked away, leaving Soul to grumble to himself in the background.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

The whole school day went by pretty smoothy, especially since they were basically in all the same classes together. They kept a distance from each other, and Maka and Soul were both silent throughout the passing classes. They found out during English class that the new teacher was ecstatic about the flour baby project, so the project was still intact. Maka and Soul got another flour baby, along with a lecture about being more civil to each other; they were, after all, parents. The only problem was during their lunch period, when they decided to separate. It was already weird that they came to school together, having lunch together would blow things out of proportion.

"Maka?" Said name heard a familiar voice call out.

"Yeah?" Maka turned around from habit. She briefly forgot about the body she was resided in.

Kid looked at her funnily before saying, "I wasn't addressing you, I was trying to talk my friend next to you. Maka, can you come with me?" The ebony haired boy motioned the currently flaxen girl to follow him.

"Oh..." Maka silently whispered in disappointment. It was then that she remembered she currently was not herself. Maka caught Soul looking at her with a sleazy smile, before he followed after Kid. She had no time to respond, as Kid rapidly dragged Soul to an emptier part of the cafeteria.

"Did that-" Kid stopped mid-sentence and looked Soul over. "What happened to your hair? It looks like a disaster, here let me fix it." He took off the bands on Soul's head and started to rearrange them. Soul looked at him in utter distaste, but said nothing for the sake of keeping his promise with pigtails.

"There, all good," Kid happily said. He tugged the end of her pigtails lightly. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something, Maka," the boy with jet black hair informed Soul.

"What is it, symmetry boy?" Soul asked, his bored emerald eyes staring off to space.

Kid shot him a weird expression at the inappropriate nickname, but decided to ignore it. "You know how that Soul took you away yesterday? Did he do anything weird to you?"

_That _Soul? Soul stared at Kid, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"What do you_ mean_ did he do anything weird?" Soul asked, thoroughly offended.

"Well, you know..." Kid awkwardly looked down to his sneakers. "...He didn't like...touch you inappropriately, or make any moves on you, did he?"

"_What_?" Soul cried out, his mouth gaping wide.

Kid looked at her uncomfortably. "Well, you know. He just looks like the type to be a _total _pervert..."

Soul looked at Kid with the most traumatized expression written on his face. He was shocked. Absolutely mortified. Were statements, accusations like_ those_ what they said about him behind his back?

When Soul revived from his mortification, he 'cooly' answered back, "No, not at all. Actually, symmetry, I tried to seduce him by tricking him into kissing me on the lips."

"What?" Kid looked at him with an astounded face.

Soul shrugged, trying to hide a smile that was growing on his face. "I mean, how could I resist him? No other girl can, what makes her- I mean me so special?"

Kid stared at Soul with widened eyes, unsure if the Maka in front of him was really his best friend Maka Albarn.

"Maka, you_ hate_ Soul. You think he's repulsive," Kid reminded her.

"_What_? How dare she...me! How dare me- how dare I?" Soul finally managed to sputter back.

"What's gotten into you?" Kid's hands worriedly felt the top of Soul's forehead. Soul squatted it away.

"Don't _touch _me, symmetry. And for the record, I do _not_ hate Soul, it's just a facade. A _pretense_. In fact, yesterday I was as bold as to sleep in the same bed as him. Part of my seduction plan, but of course I failed. _Miserably_. I mean look at me, I'm as flat as cardboard! How dare I, someone as lowly as I, be one to hate the perfect Soul?" Soul dramatically exaggerated, moving his arms around to emphasize his point.

"Okay, now I am totally convinced that you are terribly sick. What the hell did Soul do to you? Did he threaten you to say these things?" Kid asked, his yellow eyes burning with disgusted rage.

Soul narrowed his eyes at the teenager with sleek ebony hair, as a crooked smile replaced his frown.

"Wait a minute...you asking me all these weird personal questions...you _like _me don't you?" Soul challenged Kid, crossing his arms and looking extremely entertained.

"Okay, Maka, that's official. I officially diagnose you with a case of insanity with a little retardation sprinkled here and there," he shook his head. His stiff eyes looked at Soul in disdain.

Soul chortled at how fast Kid shot down the fact that he might have feelings for pigtails. "I was obviously joking, symmetry, stop taking it so seriously. I mean look at me, how am I in any way lovable? I don't believe in love anyways."

Kid's eyes suddenly turning a deep golden color, and Kid looked at Soul with a terribly dejected face. Soul noticed that the atmosphere around them was growing heavier by the passing minute.

"Maka, you have to stop saying those kinds of things," Kid finally replied back. His mood nor the atmosphere did not lift up at all. "Stop with the low self esteem. I already know that you don't believe in love, and you're determined that you never will, but I really wish you would reconsider your bias towards that particular feeling." With that, the teenager with piercing black hair left Soul all alone in the deserted cafeteria.

Soul stared at Kid's backside, and the words that had escaped his mouth ran through Soul's head repeatedly. The words burned into his skull and just wouldn't leave him alone. When Soul was speaking on Maka's behalf about the subject of love, he had meant it as a sarcastic joke. The fact that it was actually a valid statement sparked a tremendous amount of curiosity through Soul's veins.

_Maka Albarn didn't believe in love? _

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"What did you tell Kid?" Maka demanded. She had cornered Soul into an empty hallway. School ended a while ago, and they both decided to hide out and meet after school once everyone already went home.

"I didn't tell him anything," Soul lied.

"Yeah, sure you didn't," Maka sarcastically answered back. "That's why he keeps looking your way- with my face, may I remind you- in the the most sympathetic way ever, right?"

"He was mad and upset because your pigtails were a mess and terribly unsymmetrical!" Soul hastily made an excuse.

Maka looked at him with an unwavering expression on her face, her harsh cherry red orbs burning into his guilty green ones. "You have _got_ to come up with a better excuse than that. Sure, Kid may be obsessed with symmetry, but to have caused a reaction like that? I don't think so. I've known him for _three_ years now."

Soul avoided direct eye contact with her, but he could still feel her gaze burning him.

"Answer me Soul Eater Evans."

He kind of liked the way his name rolled off her tongue. It was his own voice, but the way she said it so harshly...

"Earth to Soul Asshole Evans, I'm talking to you!"

Now that was just plain rude. Soul suddenly remembered an old conversation he had with Black Star a few months ago.

"Are you _seriously_ trying to ignore me?"

It was a conversation on how to divert a girl's attention.

"Wow, really? How dare you! Ig-ignore me?"

To make her forget everything they were talking about at the moment.

"That's it! I'm going to slaughter you!"

_What was it?_

Maka expeditiously got closer to him to physically hurt him, when he grabbed her by her collar, tip-toed on his feet, and kissed her, shutting her up completely.

And then Soul remembered what Black Star had told him- to _kiss_ her.

Sure enough, Maka had shut up, as she felt a familiar rush in her body- an electric pulse rang through her whole body. She felt feeble, as if she might fall any second, and had to grab onto the body next to her to stay balanced. Then her vision blurred before going completely black.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 2 done- please review! C: **


	3. The One Where They Cook

**A/N: This whole chapter is a retell of something that happened to me in the past. Me being Maka, Soul being the guy I was in absolute love with. **

**Thank you to: **DarknessHedgie, crazychick1313, arkee, cheng, soulbella, Luminous Snow, inogurl, .Poisoned Scarlet., blackrose4123, MidnightSting, GrossGirl18, MammonLovesMoney, Asabella, Piggy7869, Lady Skorpio. C:

* * *

******Chapter 3: **The One Where They Cook

Soul Eater Evans had never felt such an impacting rush of emotions before. Sure he had _heard_ of the nasty feeling before, always used in negative context, but in all honesty, it was all foreign to him. He never experienced it firsthand, and now that he was, he had no idea how to cure it. Or how to even _begin_ to deal with it.

Soul Eater Evans had a terrible, horrible case of boredom.

In all his life, he always had something that kept him occupied. He could relaxingly compose a few melodies, or play the piano and break night. Sometimes he would enjoy a movie in his home built surround-sound system, and other times Black Star would come over to play. But recently, everything started to get tedious and repetitive. Sure, he loved his piano and music to death, but hour after hour of playing the piano for thirteen consecutive years straight was bound to get exhausting eventually.

But what was the real reason of this sudden epiphany that he was leading a boring life? It was the fact that he had a taste of what _fun _was. The brief moments he had with pigtails- when they had switched bodies and she slept over his home- were actually widely refreshing. Communication with a girl was a new process to him, and shockingly he found himself enjoying the presence of an opposing gender.

The most surprising revelation he had, however, was that she was the only one of her 'kind' to actually make him feel that way. After hours of having nothing to do, Soul caved in and started to talk to one of his many fan girls. He stopped these actions quicker than lightening when the girl started to rip his hair out from affection.

And so he realized it was only her. It was only her that made him so intrigued on the female species. He was set on hanging out with her more, despite her disgustingly low popularity status, but there was a little problem. Actually, a_ huge_ problem.

She was completely ignoring him.

Right after they found the cure and switched back, the first thing she did was kick him for accusing her of seducing him. She walked alway, and the next day acted as if they were total strangers again. She made no contact with him whatsoever.

In fact, she _avoided_ him in the hallways. He would stare at her from time to time during class (just to make sure she wasn't staring at him, of course) and she would not even spare him one tiny little glance. He tried to make an excuse using the flour baby to get closer to her, but she just tossed him the bag and told him to return it to her the next day.

He was getting so desperate to talk to her that he was seriously considering trying to force himself to sneeze on purpose.

But then he returned to his senses, and scolded himself for even thinking of doing such terribly uncool actions.

As the days got longer, and Soul was collapsing from his mundane lifestyle, he ultimately concluded that it wouldn't hurt _too _badly to hinder his coolness points by a bit. After all, his amount of coolness was over the roof, so chipping it off a few layers wouldn't be unbearable.

Instead of trying to pathetically sneeze purposely and have the inconvenience of switching bodies, Soul thought of another route to trap her into giving her attention to him- school.

Soul spoke to their new English teacher secretively after school when everyone had left. He made sure that no one was left in the building and that he was alone with the teacher.

"Yes, Soul?" Her golden eyes bore unto his scarlet colored ones.

"Uh...well." Soul hesitated, as dark hues of red blotched his pale face from embarrassment. His eyes flickered over random objects in the empty classroom they currently resided in. "I was wondering..."

"Yes?" She tied her blonde hair up in a ponytail. "Don't be shy, I won't ridicule you in any way."

He groaned, as he tried to spit the words out. The conversation had gone smoothly in the numerous times he pictured it in his mind, but now that he was actually doing it, he was a mess.

"Well, Ms. Mjolnir, I heard that...uh...the flour baby project is to enhance our socializing skills..." He managed to say the first part of his point out.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well...I feel like there's not really a lot of interactions between the partners, which kind of really makes your plans ineffective," he continued. "So I thought that maybe you should, I don't know, assign our class to do something specific together so you know that the partners are actually working as a couple." He finally expressed his true intentions, feeling a rapid blush spread around his face. Even his ears were burning from the embarrassment.

"Wow, Soul! I didn't even think about that! That actually sounds like a wonderful idea!" The teacher exclaimed, either oblivious to his burning red face or ignoring it. "I would definitely think about it tonight, and tomorrow I'll assign something that will confirm the connections are building up, okay?"

"Sure," Soul tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, but instead came out embarrassingly meek.

As Soul slowly walked out the classroom, he released a deep breath and he grinned. Now that the hard part was over, he was going to thoroughly enjoy the entertainment that would be coming towards him in the passing days.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

The new English teacher, Soul learned, was one who acted quickly and efficiently.

"Hello class," the blonde teacher started. "Yesterday, a student in this class pointed out that some partners may not be as active as others are."

Some students started to groan. Soul nervously looked off to the side, pretending he had nothing to do with it.

"And so, in order to ensure that this experience is as realistic as possible, we're going to have a party tomorrow!"

Soul raised his eyebrows. What the hell did having a party have anything to do with _anything_? Students looked just as shocked as he did, wondering if they misheard. Soul's eyes subtly drifted over to pigtails, who was ignoring everyone and instead immersed herself in a book. Typical pigtails.

"Now, before any of you guys get too excited about the party, there is a catch: every couple must bring in a homemade dish- be it an actual meal or just dessert- but it has to be made together!" She completed her assignment, throwing a wink in Soul's direction. He sunk in his chair, wanting to fall of the edge of the universe. Maybe dissipate into carbon dioxide, so he could at least help the environment. No one seemed to notice her wink though, as they were too busy gossiping about the assignment amongst themselves. Soul smoothly walked over to Maka, with his hands casually crammed in his jean pockets.

"So about that project..." He started, glancing over her. She didn't look up or respond, so he continued. "What do you want to make?"

"I'll just make something and bring it in," she replied. She didn't even bother to look up.

He glared at her in annoyance.

"No, we have to make it together," he reminded her. He forcibly removed the book from her hands. "The teacher said so."

"Give it back," she demanded, finally meeting his ruby eyes.

"Not until you decide what we're going to do about the food." He refused, lifting the book out of her reach.

"Give it...!" She hissed, standing up on tiptoes in hopes that she would be able to reach the book.

"Then make plans!" He negotiated, holding the book as high as he could.

"Ugh..." She gave up, angrily sitting back on her seat. "I'm not going back to your mansion thing, that elderly woman basically labeled me a whore," the blonde replied stubbornly.

"So that means I get to crash at your place?" His voice was coated with amusement. He tried hard to camouflage it, but he was thrilled at the idea of staying at pigtails' house.

She moaned at the thought of him being anywhere near the vicinity of her comfort zone, but she knew it was inevitable.

"I seriously don't get why I can't just make something and play it off that we made it together..." She complained. She scribbled her address on scrap paper and shoved it in Soul's hand. "Come by six, and don't be late or I won't open the door," she warned him, as she took her book back.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"You _idiot,_ you put in way too much rice krispies!" Soul growled, snatching the cardboard box of cereal away from the blonde girl who turned into a cooking nightmare. He was glad that he decided to throw on something casual that evening, because in the span of twenty minutes, his clothes were stained with various condiments.

"It's fine!" She jeered, rapidly stirring the gruesome mess she made in the pot.

They had decided to cook something simple- a rice krispies snack. But Maka had made the whole process much more complicated than it should have been by convincing Soul that she was a great cook and she knew the "right way" of making rice krispies.

"Look at that crap, it looks disgusting!" He cried, pointing at the bubbling pot of mess. "I told you that we had to use the microwave, not the pot! Look how gross it looks now!"

"Shut up!" She snapped, dangerously waving the metal spoon around. "Like you could make it any better!"

"A blind man could make it better than you make it," he flatly stated. He grabbed the utensil that was used as a weapon away from her. "Throw this batch out, it's already hardened, burnt, and inedible."

"I can't," she refused. "I only bought one cereal box, we can't make it over. Just use these, they're not _that _bad!"

"Yeah, they're not that bad if you're planning to use them as murder weapons. They're as hard as rocks." He proved his point by banging a big piece on the counter.

"Then you make it!" She conceded, dramatically waving her hands upwards. "I think I have a cake mix somewhere, let's see how well you can cook." she challenged, going over to her wooden cupboard and taking out a chocolate cake mix.

"Cake and rice krispies are completely different deserts!" Soul protested. "Cakes are much harder to make than rice krispies, how is this a fair challenge at all?"

"Chickening out?" A sarcastic, humored expression possessed her face.

"Give this to me," he snapped. Soul took the cake mix off the counter and started to read the instructions. Maka hovered over him, trying to take a peek at the back of the box. She grinned when she saw that making a cake was much more complicated than she thought it would be. She acknowledged the fact that making a cake taste good was miles harder than simply making rice krispies, but his negativity got on her nerves. He had no right to complain about her cooking, especially when he was a crappy one himself.

Soul caught Maka looking intently at the back of the box with him, and he shooed her away.

"Go away, go read some algebra books," he ordered her. He pushed her out of the kitchen. "I'll tell you when I'm done."

"You don't _read_ algebra. You solve it," she harshly corrected him. She left the small kitchen that was connected to her living room. Before she absorbed herself in equations she warned him, "You better make it mouthwateringly delicious, Soul Eater Evans or I'll kick you."

His reply was brief.

"Don't worry about it, pigtails."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

It wasn't the annoying silver-haired teenager's signal that had attracted Maka to walk into the kitchen. It was the smell wafting through her entire apartment- a warm, chocolatey smell of perfection.

"Hiya." He greeted her, as she entered the kitchen. He gave her a crooked grin. "I was just about to call you, I'm done."

Her eyes darted from his conceited face to the beautiful brown cake on the kitchen counter. It was cooling off, but Maka could basically feel the delicious smell enveloping her. She took a deep breath.

She had thought up of numerous insults directed towards his cake while she was in her room, but looking at the cake made them all disappear. Maka's bottom lip jutted out.

"Finally," she blurted out. She tried her best to hide the nervous emotions that emit out of her body.

"There was enough mix to make two, you can eat one and we can bring the other one to class," he told her. He noticed her carefully hidden nervous emotions through her silence. He simpered. "Looks delicious, doesn't it?"

"It's just cake," she stated. She ignored his coy grin as she cut herself a piece and popped it into her mouth.

The chocolate dessert literally_ melted_ into her mouth. It was fluffy, light, and absolutely delicious; a little piece of heaven. The texture and flavor was perfect too- not too sweet, not too bitter. She couldn't hide her crestfallen face.

"You cheated," she concluded. The delicious flavor rapidly spread throughout her mouth.

"It's that good?" He tossed her a face of victory.

"It's just cake, all it takes it following the right directions. Anyone could make it without ease," she informed him. She got annoyed by the cocky grin that was plastered on his face.

"Yeah, I thought so too, until I saw your cooking. Then I thought, wow, even with following the directions accurately, people can still manage to mess up food so badly it looks like a blob of grossness." He grimaced when she kicked his knee. "But seriously, how do you live by yourself? What do you eat? And don't say your own cooking because if that was true, you would have died from food poisoning by now."

She hit him on the head with a wooden spoon, angered by the insult, but answered him anyways.

"I always buy food," she shrugged. She cut herself another slice of cake. "Or sometimes Kid comes over and makes me something."

"_What_?" Soul asked in disbelief, a feeling of jealousy rising up his throat.

"What, what?" She was oblivious to his disapproving face.

"Why would symmetry come make you anything? Coming into a girl's apartment with the excuse of cooking, don't you think that's a bit fishy? I didn't expect symmetry to be that sleazy, he should be taught a lesson on manners," he scorned her raven haired friend.

"You have issues," Maka determined. She continued to eat her cake.

"And _you_ have no shame, why are you allowing a guy come over to your apartment? Don't you know what happens when a girl and a guy are alone in a room together?" He bluntly asked her.

"Why are you lecturing me like you're my dad?" She snarled. "And if you haven't noticed Mr. Genius, we are alone together right now too. Is something happening? No."

Soul grunted at her logical point, leaning towards the kitchen counter. He stayed quiet, which gave the thought that had been bugging him for the past week a chance to escape his lips.

"Anyways," he started, breaking the thin layer of silence that had fallen. "How come you've been ignoring me this past week?" He finally mustered the question out. His scarlet eyes darted to the chocolate cake in front of him.

She curiously glanced at him, tapping the counter with her fingers lightly.

"I don't know. Isn't that what you want?" She murmured despondently.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm uncool," she admitted. She shrug her shoulders. Her face did not look sad at all; just the same emotionless expression it usually had.

Soul's face merely crumpled into further confusion.

She continued. "I have the uncanny ability to blend well against a white wall, why would you want to associate yourself with me? You don't have to go out of your way to talk to me, I really don't care."

Soul's face was stunned for a minute, before a wide grin spread over his face.

"Wow, are you actually caring about me?"

"Don't get carried away," she quickly dismissed. "I'm just saying don't pity me, I'm content with my life the way it is right now. I don't need your sympathy or friendship, so you could drop the act."

"_You_ don't get carried away," he told her. "I'm a selfish guy, why would I care about you in the least? I'm talking to you for _my_ own benefits- I have fun when I'm with you."

A slight smile threatened to crack her ambivalent mask.

"Besides, you're my _wifey_, of course I'm obliged to talk to you."

The flaxen haired girl choked on the third piece of chocolate cake she was munching on. When the coughing didn't reside, he poured her a glass of milk. She chugged it down rapidly, giving him an intense glare.

"_What_?" She wiped her mouth away from a potential milk mustache. She ignored the light brain freeze she obtained from the cold drink.

"You heard me pigtails, you're my _wifey_. It makes sense- we slept together on the same bed, went to each other's houses, had a (flour) baby together, and now even cooked together!" He smiled broadly, not minding the disgusted face she had on. "So now I forbid you from allowing symmetry into your apartment, it's a right I have as your husband."

"Fuck off Soul Evans," the blonde answered. Her face twisted into disgust at his teasing. "I spare you one_ remotely _caring statement, and you give me this shit."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say something to upset my wifey?" He continued to tease her with a drawl to his words. She was _really_ fun to torture.

"Leave!" She exploded. He stood there limp, as she tried to shove him out of the kitchen door. His impish grin broadened.

"Look, we're even having our first real fight. Aren't we so cute?"

"OUT!" She commanded, shoving him harder towards the door. He stood there with a stupid, lazy expression on his face, as she started to unlock the locks to the outer door. She hastily opened it, and pushed him out.

"Not even a goodbye kiss?" He pouted, showing his pearly jagged teeth.

Her face scrunched up into a ball of disgust, and promptly shut the door on his face. Her heart thumped loudly, not due to romantic inclinations- God, no- but because of burning embarrassment. She hated how easily he was able to get on her nerves; she was usually a calm, collected person. Well, in her opinion anyways.

_Marry_? _Wife_? She scoffed at his propositions. Desire for such things did not define her, and never will. In fact, she despised the idea of such intense, unnecessary commitment. Everything had a time limit, and when that time limit came, feelings would expire; and God, when said feelings expired, the remaining pieces of emotions left behind_ hurt_. It burned like crazy, continuously jabbing the heart with spikes of betrayal, regret, and denial. It was like poison; it consumed your every being before ultimately crushing you down. She unfortunately found this out from personal experience.

She didn't mind having the pain known at such an early age though; it saved her from future heartbreaks. She had iced up her heart, and no one was going to dare creep in. She always had neutral feelings about this knowledge; being this way. Nothing was ever going to change that.

Yet, as she heard the soft, velvety peal of laughter escape from his lips down the hall through her closed apartment doors, she couldn't help but feel a strange unrest creep into her heart.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh, thank goodness this one didn't turn out long. I hope I don't bore people when I write too much. And yes, I actually did make rice krispies with this guy and it turned out TERRIBLE. Lol, I put in way too much rice krispies cereal and it was rock hard. And I forced him to make cake, and it was _really_ delicious. Haha. I liked writing this chapter. It brought back nice memories. Please review! **


	4. The One With The New Kid

**A/N: Sorry for the super late update! I went on my senior trip and I was out doing a lot of senior-ish things(?). Haha, but yeah. That's why it took a long time, in case anyone was wondering. Also, a lot of dramatic and intense things happened during that trip, but I'm trying to not let those things get the best of me or bother me anymore. It's a fresh new start! **

**Thank you to: ** GrossGirl18, blackrose4123, Welnakia, Asabella, CookieTheif, inogurl, Slayers64, Luminous Snow, crazychick1313, arkee, Loveley, cheng, Lady Skorpio, Sammicakes, kaykay, watevs1404

**Your reviews & words of encouragement seriously made my past two weeks bearable. x) **

* * *

**Chapter 4: **The One With The New Kid

"Resist it!" The exhausted blonde told the silver haired boy next to her for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"_How_?" He asked once again, ignoring her deadly graze. "How in the _world _is one supposed to hold back a sneeze?"

"Just resist it!" She persisted with her illogical chain of reasoning, walking towards their school at a more rapid pace, hoping to lose the annoyance that was tagging alongside her.

For some reason beyond her comprehension, after he found out where she lived, he started to wait outside her door everyday and persisted on walking to school with her. This burdened Maka greatly, since his "fangirls" immediately started to take notice and proceeded to give Maka threatening glares.

"But I have apple allergies, and my garden is filled with apple trees. Every time I pass by my own garden, I have the biggest urge to sneeze!" He complained to her, catching on the faster pace she was walking. Although it was true that Soul did have apple allergies, it only happened when he _ate_ the apples; and even then, he obtained rashes- not the urge to sneeze. But what she didn't know couldn't hurt her, right?

"Then cut the damn tree or something!" She sharply replied back, trying to lose him once again by taking a different route to their school.

"School is that way," he reminded her, confused by the unfamiliar path she had taken.

"Yeah, it is. I need to get something at the market first," she lied, practically running down the street. "See you later!"

And with that, before Soul could even register what was going on, she was out of sight.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Today is going to be an extremely exciting day for us!" The young blonde teacher chirped, clasping her hands together. Soul looked at her with his dull crimson eyes, as his eyes drifted off to the empty seat two seats down from him. Lunch had already passed by, and pigtails was _still _missing in action. Various thoughts clouded his mind, as he thought about the possibilities. For a split second, he thought that maybe she was cutting, before he mentally laughed to himself.

Maka Albarn and cutting school would never, ever be used in the same sentence. Ever.

Then what could have happened to her? Perhaps she got...kidnapped?

Soul actually had to laugh out loud about that one. Like anyone would waste their time or energy to kidnap a girl like her; she was from an unknown middle class family, and had absolutely _no_ appeal to her name.

Before Soul could think up of more absurd scenarios in his head, his train of thought was interrupted by his teacher's high pitched voice.

"Yes, there is a new student that will be joining us today!" The teacher clapped, looking at the class expectantly, hoping they would look a little more lively. Her attempts were of no avail; the students barely looked up from whatever they were doing to pass the lengthy English class. The teacher chose to ignore the dreary response, and continued. "Please welcome Chrona Gorgon!"

As soon as the teacher called the name out, a girl- boy? -with purple-tinted hair that fell down her hair in a messy fashion walked in. Her eyes were a light lavender color, that immediately cast downwards in shyness. She was wearing a tight black dress that hid most of her body features, making it hard to tell if she was really a she.

The class fell into an awkward silence, as Chrona fiddled the edge of her dress. She was a nervous wreck, sweating from all the pressure of being in the center of attention.

"Well...uh," Marie started, noticing lean girl next to her was starting to hyperventilate. "Oh! I know! To help nice little Chrona here out, how about someone become her big sib? You know, a big sibling that tells her where everything is, helps her out with her schedule- anything to make her feel more comfortable. Anyone want to volunteer?" The blonde teacher frowned when no one raised their hand. "Well if no one wants to-"

"I'M HERE!" A familiar voice yelled out into the room, as the door slammed wide open and rushing inside came a panting girl. Soul perked up. Her hair was a mess, and there were pieces of leaves stuck in between her pigtails. She looked absolutely mortified when she noticed that all the whole class was staring at her in amusement.

"Oh, Maka!" The teacher looked at the beet red girl in relief. "There you are! You came just in time! From now on, you'll be Chrona's big sib!"

"Huh?" Maka scrunched her face up in confusion.

"What?" Soul thought to himself, careful not to burst it out loud. For some annoying reason unbeknownst to him, the thought of someone else besides himself being around pigtails twenty-four seven uncontrollably irritated him to no end.

It wouldn't have gotten to Soul nearly half as bad, however, if he didn't trace the sparkling glint in Chrona's hazy purple eyes. Those dangerous periwinkle pairs were definitely intoxicated by the sight of the blonde girl in front of them, and Soul didn't like that.

At all.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"And that's where we do our lab experiments!" Maka happily told the girl with light violet hair, as she pointed to the room directly across from the physics room.

"I-I see..." The nervous girl stuttered back, her hand placed cautiously in front of her mouth. The purple eyes briefly spared a glance at the white door, before they went back to staring at Maka.

Maka smiled at her new acquaintance. She had grown fond of this shy, timid girl who treated her as if she was a role model, and she was glad that something good had come out of arriving to school late. Maka was _positive_ that there was another route to the school; she would have never expected, in a million years, to get so terribly lost. It was actually a miracle that she made it to school before it ended. It was all thanks to _that_ jerk she was so late, mercilessly shattering her perfect attendance record.

"Hey wifey," a voice flatly called out. Speak of the devil.

Maka mumbled back an incomprehensible reply, before grabbing Chrona's frail wrists in an attempt to escape any form of communication with the silver-haired boy coming towards her.

Chrona looked back and gasped at the boy that called out to Maka, as she was led into a different hallway.

"I'm sorry!" Maka apologized, immediately losing the grip she had on the purple-haired girl who looked absolutely terrified. "I just needed to desperately avoid him, please forgive me!"

"Ah, it's o-okay, I-"

"No, it's so _not_ okay," a deep voice interrupted, causing Chrona to freeze and Maka sigh dramatically in despair. "In fact, it's so utterly, completely, totally, and absolutely _uncool_ how badly you want to avoid me."

"I'm not trying to avoid you," she dismissed, thinking of various ways she would be able to avoid this conversation. She noticed he was carrying a yellow envelope, and she decided to use it as a distraction. "What's that envelope for?"

"Way to subtly change the subject," he easily caught on, tightening his grip on the envelope. "But if you want to know, it's my application."

"Application to what?" She wondered in genuine curiosity.

"What else?" He scoffed at her dumbfounded expression. "Of course it's a college application."

"Oh wow," Maka breathed out in surprise. "You actually care about your future?"

He tossed her an angry scowl with his hard ruby eyes, and Chrona felt as though she might rip in half when she saw them move towards her direction.

"Of course I care about getting into college, especially this study abroad one. It's my only way to escape from this hellhole," he told her, ignoring the looks of sympathy Chrona was unconsciously throwing at him. "Besides, you should stop thinking so lowly of me. If I wanted to, and had my heart actually set on it, I could easily get higher grades than you."

_What_?

"_Excuse_ me?" Maka tried to reply in a cool and calm manner, but she failed miserably, as her words came out high-pitched, squeaky and filled with anger.

"You heard me, I'm smarter than you. I can get better grades than you," he shrugged, a small grin tugging at the edge of his lips. He knew that this sort of teasing would get her all riled up, and this sort of chance came once in a blue moon. When the opportunity came, he took it without hesitation.

"Don't make me laugh," Maka sneered, the voice growing more threatening by the second. "_You_? Smarter than _me_? Haha, _so_ funny."

"What's so funny?" Soul rhetorically asked. "It's true, want to bet on it?" He offered, trying hard not to reveal his true intentions.

"What bet?" Maka snapped, tugging at the end of her pigtails in irritation.

"How about this?" He started, his bright scarlet eyes gleaming. "Whoever gets the higher grade on the math test we have next week wins?"

"Wins what?" Maka asked, fully aware that all bets had a price and prize.

"The winner has the power to order the loser to do anything they want," he decided, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the white walls of the hallway.

"_Anything_?" The blonde teenager asked in disbelief.

"Anything," he confirmed, watching a wide smile grew on her face.

All she had to do was do what she did best- study. It was the easiest bet anyone could have ever proposed to her, and she couldn't contain her excitement. Was this popular jerk a total idiot as well? It was almost ridiculous how cocky he was being, thinking he could ever surpass her in the arithmetic department. If she won- no, _when_ she won, she would tell him to get off her back and leave her alone once and for all.

"Alright, you're on!" Maka happily agreed, shaking the hand he held out towards her. "The next time I see you, I'll be rubbing my hundred in your face. For now, Chrona and I have places to go, so we'll be seeing you later," she matter-of-factly told Soul, letting go of his hand and grabbing the astounded Chrona's hand instead.

"Yeah, yeah," Soul shrugged, smiling that lopsided smile of his. It was almost _sick_ how innocent and naive this girl was.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

When Friday morning- the date of the mathematics test- rolled around, Maka was livid. She was furious, a ball of fury and wrath. In fact, she was so mad that she was not even able to speak properly; the words that came out of her mouth came out in incomprehensible sputters and spazzes.

"SOUL EATER EVANS!" She boomed, rushing down the hallway, pushing all the girls that gave her a face filled with an unusual combination of confusion and adoration.

"Why is that ball of crazy screaming his own name out?" Kid asked Tsubaki, who answered back with a shrug. They were both standing in front of their lockers, watching the entertaining yet pathetic scene starring Soul Evans unfold before them.

"You can run but you can't hide you fucking bastard!" Maka proceeded to bellow out in the hallway, causing a few teachers to stop and hush her up for the derogatory terms.

The bell rang, signifying the start of first period, and Soul was still nowhere in sight. They had math class first, and Maka figured if he was going to be absent, at least she would be able to make up for her test at a later date. She sighed in relief when she thought about it, and realized she would not lose the bet because he wasn't even present.

But the serenity of her temper was short-lived.

She knew it was logically_ impossible _for him to be smarter than her and get higher grades than her by studying for only a week. She knew that he would undoubtedly use _some_ sort of cheating method, but this was going too far. He had switched bodies with her on _purpose_, somehow _forced_ himself to sneeze, so that she would have to take the test for him, and vice versa. It was a clever idea, Maka had to admit, even though it royally screwed her over and made her have a near heart-attack when she woke up to a maid staring creepily at her face.

Maka's temper was slowly but surely subduing, and she was ready to fail Soul's paper on purpose for vengenance, when she saw her own blonde pigtails gayly walking into the math classroom. Her anger spiked up, and she had a sudden adrenaline rush.

"Soul fucking fucker," she hissed, as she grabbed her own frail figure by the collar. "You're such a _cheater._ How can you do this to me? I'm going to fail your paper so badly, your math average will drop at least ten folds," she threatened viciously.

"Oh no you won't," Soul grinned, his emerald eyes twinkling in mischief. "Because you see, if you fail my math test, I'll fail yours too. I don't really care about my grade too much, so if you fail this test, by all means go ahead and do so. But remember, if you do, your grades are plummeting down with mine...are you okay with that?" He threatened her, the grin masked on his face growing larger as her face twisted in horror at the thought of her perfect grades dropping.

Failing? Maka Albarn did not do failing. In fact, she never failed a single test her whole life; even the mere _thought _of failing made Maka's legs go weak.

"Fine, fine!" Maka cried out in defeat. "You win the bet," Maka hissed, tightening her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white. "Just get a good fucking grade for me, or I'll kill you. If I don't pass with at least over an eighty-five, I will seriously skin you alive," Maka told him, meaning each of her words literally.

"I seriously win?" Soul asked in surprise, cruelly laughing to himself inwardly about how easy this victory was. "No take backs, no change of rules later on, no tricks, no nothing? I seriously win?"

"Yes, yes," the blonde agreed. "I'll do whatever the hell you want, just get a good grade for me," Maka weakly replied back, hating the way she sounded so vulnerable.

"Sweet," Soul crookedly smiled, showing his jagged pearl white teeth. "You better keep your end of the promise, pigtails," he said, before promptly taking the seat Maka had always sat in to take the test.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Exactly_ why_ are you always looking at me like that?" Soul asked the light purple-haired girl in front of him. The bangs on her forehead were cut in such an uneven and unfashionable way, it bothered even a messy person like Soul.

"L-Looking at you like w-what?" The lean, fragile girl refused to meet his eyes, and instead they nervously darted all over the place.

"You're always looking at me, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Soul accused, folding his hands together. "Sure, I'm your big 'sib,' but you think of me more than that, don't you? You're always looking at me with such affectionate, mushy googly eyes, and it's getting really bothersome."

Chrona's face turned bright red as soon as Soul completed his sentence, mumbling bunches of words together that ended up making no sense whatsoever.

"I-I...well," Chrona sputtered, still avoiding the pair of emerald eyes that bore into hers with a cold vibe. Usually Maka's green eyes were filled with warmth and kindness, but today they were filled with an intense feeling of...jealousy?

"Spit it out," Soul ordered, scowling at the girl who flinched at his harsh words.

"T-Truthfully, you are my i-i-idol," Chrona finally admitted, her face growing redder by the second.

"Idol?" Soul asked, a little dumbfounded but very amused.

"Y-yes, i-idol," Chrona confirmed, tugging at the short locks of hair that fell all over her forehead. "I-I've been looking at you f-for a while now, e-even before I came t-to this school. We live in the same a-apartment, I live two floors a-above you. I got h-h-home-schooled all my life, so I don't have a-any friends. I k-know it's going to s-sound c-creepy, b-b-but I..."

"You?" Soul encouraged her to carry on with her story, wondering if there was any point to it.

"I-I kind o-of stalked you w-when you went to school," Chrona sheepishly admitted. Soul raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing. "T-Then one day I-I saw y-you talking to that S-S-S-Soul E-Evans guy."

Soul's ears shot up at his name, and he started to pay much more attention to her story.

"I-I saw you yelling at h-him, and s-standing up t-to him. He's s-s-so popular, yet you didn't feel intimidated at all, it was r-r-refreshing. Y-You are such an unique individual, Maka Albarn, and I s-strive to be like you," Chrona bashfully told her, her face rapidly spreading a deep scarlet hue.

"Well, I am kind of unique, aren't I?" Soul agreed proudly, thinking back to the moment when she told him off. It all made sense now; what made Maka Albarn stand out from all those other girls who threw themselves onto him. "So you're not trying to get with me after all," Soul sighed in relief.

"W-Well actually, if y-you w-want to, I w-wouldn't mind-" Chrona started, the color red erupting all over her features. Soul abruptly shut her up by coughing loudly and pretending that he couldn't hear her. She still posed a threat; she was dangerous territory, female or male.

"Hey, Chrona, it's been a whole week since you came to this school...Aren't there any guys you would like to get with?" Soul asked hopefully, wanting to get rid of his potential competitor. In fact, Soul wasn't even sure if she was really a she at this point.

"W-Well," Chrona started, her face growing even darker shades of red. "I-I really like y-you but I a-also did think that your best friend K-K-Kid was really cute."

"_Symmetry_?" Soul laughed out in glee. He couldn't believe how well everything was turning out; this new piece of information allowed him to kill two birds with one stone.

Chrona continued staring down at her shoes, tightly grasping the hems of her skirt, not knowing how to take Soul's- that she thought were Maka's - laughs.

"Hey look," Soul started, causing Crona to slowly look up. For some strange reason, although Maka physically looked the same, Chrona felt like it wasn't really the bubbly flaxen haired in front of her. "How about we make a deal?"

"A-A deal?" Chrona asked in confusion. Somehow, this conversation seemed oddly familiar...

"How about I help you get together with symm-Kid, if you can help try to convince me to get together with Soul Evans?"

"_What_?" Chrona asked, as her face crumbled in confusion.

"I have a few problems," Soul whispered yet another lie to yet another naive person. "I actually like Soul Evans a lot, but I don't know it yet. Can you help me realize I like him by implanting the idea in my head and trying to always get me together with him?"

"Uhm...okay?" Chrona accepted the proposal, though she was not so sure she understood exactly what she had to do. "So I just have to convince you that you belong with him, and I'm playing matchmaker?"

"That's right!" Soul cheerfully told her. "And I'll try to get you closer with Kid," Soul promised.

Chrona's eyes brightened as he said this, although what Maka was asking her to do sounded absolutely ridiculous and senseless. The bell rang for the last time, and Chrona got up to leave to her locker, before Soul called out after her.

"Hey, messy hair!" Soul yelled out to her retreating back. "This conversation never happened, got that? Don't ever talk to me about this talk or remind me of it ever again!"

Chrona turned back around, smiling shyly as she slowly held up a thumbs up sign.

Soul sighed contently, leaning against the wall of the hallway nonchalantly. The new kid wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**A/N: Lol, enter Chrona. I always felt that Chrona likes Maka a lot romantically, regardless of what gender she/he is...but that's just me. xO Rest assured, I don't like Chrona and Kid at all lol. Please forgive me if there are errors, I just really wanted to post it up by today...I'll fix it all tomorrow. Review please! :) **


	5. The One Where They Talk

**A/N: SOUL IS AN ALBINO!**

**That just hit me, like woah lol. I read a fanfic where Spirit calls Soul an "albino" bastard, and it just hit me that he was one haha. That...was weird. **

**Thank you to:** GrossGirl18, .Poisoned Scarlet., Piggy7869, cheng, Luminous Snow, crazychick1313, RammsteirNails, CookieTheif, Asabella, blackrose4123, meMonster1544, arkee, watevs1404, reaperwithaplan, Welnakia, DeadlySereneGrace

**Oh you people make me happy. C:**

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**Chapter 5:** The One Where They Talk

"Why, oh why?" Maka wondered out loud to herself, as she proceeded to bang her head against the cold window of the car door. Her warm forehead left soft clouded spots on the window, before it quickly evaporated when she let go.

"Because you lost the bet fair and square?" Soul replied back, ignoring her masochistic actions. He adjusted the rearview mirror so he could get a better glimpse of her, before turning his attention back on the wheel.

"But you- you_ cheated _me!" Maka cried, unzipping the front of her thick parka to let some air in. The car she was currently placed in was overly heated, and she felt that the conversation that was about to ensue would only fuel her body temperature even higher.

"Now, Maka..." Tsubaki tried to calm the angered blonde next to her with her best soothing voice. The raven-haired girl gently patted the top of Maka's hands in hopes of making Maka feel a little bit better, but her antics failed miserably.

"He did!" She continued to protest, although her mind was not actually set on arguing about the fact that he won the bet. It wasn't the fact that the white-haired boy had cheated by switching their bodies purposely to win the bet that bothered her. No, what really got to her- what _grinded_ her gears- was the test paper she got back the corresponding Monday.

She remembered the day clearly, because she marched right up to the amused looking Soul with the crumpled paper in her hand and shoved it in his face.

"A _hundred_?" She sputtered out, continuing to shove the test paper in his face. She closed his open locker angrily, making sure his full attention was on her. "How the hell did you get a perfect score?"

Soul sighed dramatically, shaking his head softly. "What did I tell you? I'm just a smart guy," he flatly told her, a grin growing on his face.

"But then- why?" She asked in absolute confusion, her sweaty palms still grasping the crumpled paper tightly. "If you could get high grades, why the hell would you forcibly sneeze on purpose to switch bodies with me?"

"Do you enjoy writing your own scenarios?" Soul asked her, shaking his head once again.

"What?" Her emerald eyes glared up at him.

"Who forcibly sneezed on purpose? You're just assuming things," he informed her, implying that he, in fact, _did_ have a brain. She refused to believe him.

"You cheated," she countered, placing her hands on her hips accusingly.

"Is that the only word you know?" He rhetorically asked her, opening his locker to take out his book. "Because every time I do something that impresses you- don't glare at me like that, you know you were impressed- it's 'you cheated'. What if I..." He firmly shut his locker closed, and turned around to face her. His scarlet eyes were dangerously close to her emerald ones. "What if I really was a smart guy? What would you know? What _do_ you know about me?" He asked her the last question in an extremely light voice, just above a whisper.

Maka snorted in an attempt to seem unfazed by his captivating stare, although her hands got sweatier by the minute.

"That you're annoying and gross?" She replied back, angry that it came out sounding so squeaky and vulnerable.

"Gross?" He smiled in a way that showed off his pearly jagged white teeth. "Is that what you really think?"

"Yes." She deadpanned, looking away from his smug face. "You are _gross_. Take your stupid hundred, and get away from me." She threw the paper in his face and walked away, but he immediately grabbed her wrist.

"Wait," he stopped her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" She questioned, her mind in a squall of fury and rage.

"The bet," he reminded her, his smile widening. "No matter what you say, I won. So you are obliged to do whatever I tell you to do."

"What?" She shrieked, as her hands immediately flew to her body protectively.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I just wanted you to come snowboarding with me this weekend, what were _you_ thinking about?"

Her face dyed a rosy red, as she slowly lowered her hands in embarrassment. She coughed awkwardly, mumbling, "But I don't know how to snowboard," in hopes of changing the subject.

"I could teach you," he offered, his face filled with mischief.

"I would rather plummet in the snow. And die. From hypothermia." She thought about it, and the rather disturbing mental image burned in her mind. She shuddered. "Forget it Evans, I'm not going."

"You have to, or don't tell me-" he gasped. "_You're_ the cheater?"

"What? How does not going snowboarding with you make me a cheater?" Maka cried out in protest.

"You have to keep your end of the deal, or that's what you would be," he calmly replied.

"How does not going snowboarding to prevent my own death entail me as a cheater?"

"I offered to teach you," he reminded her, rolling his ruby eyes at yet another outrageous scenario she was mentally making up in her head. He sighed at her disappointed face, and amended his invite. "Fine, fine. Because I am_ such_ a nice person, I'll let you bring your friend along. NOT symmetry, the other one."

"Who, Tsubaki?" Maka asked, a glimmer of hope for the trip shining through.

"Does it _look_ like I would recognize someone by their name? The tall Japanese one," Soul described, causing an angered reaction on Maka's face.

"You're just rude," Maka shook her head. She walked into the hallway, ignoring a group of girls who were whispering about her and Soul not-so-subtly.

"You have to, it's this Saturday! I will drag you if I have to!" Soul threatened.

...And so that's how Maka Albarn was dragged into the Evans' fancy sports car and on her way to her impending death.

"Maka, I've gone snowboarding lots of times before. Don't worry, it's not that bad," Tsubaki reassured the pale blonde next to her. As the sight of the mountain got closer, Maka's face froze in fear. This place was a _death trap_, in the disguise of a "fun" sport.

"YEAH!" An overly excited boy with aqua hair trembled in excitement from the shotgun seat. "Don't worry about it Albarn, if anything, this God-sent boy will-"

"Please...just shut up," Maka moaned, rubbing the temple of her head in pain. It was loud, stuffy, and_ crammed_ in the car. "Why did you bring him? As if bringing yourself wasn't bad enough, you had to bring your cronies," Maka complained to the driver, just enough for him and only him to hear her.

"Eh, he begged me. Said he wanted to impress someone," Soul shrugged, his eyes looking straight ahead. Maka looked at him funnily, and he continued on with a smirk, "Rest assured, it's not _you_. I wouldn't want my _wifey_ to mingle with other guys, friend or not."

Maka made a point of conserving her energy by just not replying back. She had learned this technique when she was babysitting her neighbor's kids- if she ignored them long enough, they eventually shut up. The same would apply to him as well. After all, he had the brain capacity of a six year old.

"WE'RE HERE!" Black Star's voice bounced around in the car, as he looked outside the window. The huge towering mountain came into full view, and Soul drove around, looking for a place to park.

"Is Kid and Chrona here already?" Maka asked, looking out the window. After much pleading(which consisted of a lot of cursing), Soul let Kid come along, but only if he came in his own car with Chrona. Maka raised her eyebrows at his proposal, but agreed to it without arguing. After all, it was always them _three_; it felt plain wrong if it was just her and Tsubaki.

"Who cares, leave the love birds on their own," Soul cut her off, a little annoyed that the first thing she was looking for was _him_.

"What are you talking about?" Maka asked ruefully.

"Oh, nothing nothing." Soul refused to answer. Before Maka had the chance to interrogate him more, he parked in the last space and hastily got out of the car. He opened Maka's car door for her and asked, "Then shall we begin our lessons dearest wife?"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"So...uh...what's your name again?" Kid asked awkwardly, brushing raven locks of hair away from his face.

"C-C-Chrona," she answered, her eyes darting away from him. A deep blush grew on her cheeks.

"Oh." Kid briefly replied, unsure how he was going to get out of this terribly uncomfortable mess. They were somehow put in a car together by themselves, and it would have been fine if it was a _normal_ girl. But this one? Firstly, he didn't even know if she was actually a girl or not. It has hard to tell, especially since her voice sounded as though it could be a deep girl's voice or a high male's voice. Secondly, she was just an awkward, uncomfortable person. She barely said anything, or made any eye contact. Thirdly, her _hair_...

Oh Lord have mercy on her fucking hair.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,_ I hate you_!" Maka screamed, as she grasped onto Soul's black parka tightly.

"You're not going to fall!" Soul reassured her for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was thoroughly worn out- how was it possible that one could be _this_ bad at snowboarding?

"I will!" She insisted, her clutch on him not loosening.

"You know," Soul yawned. "For someone who's known for her strong academic records, you sure are dumb."

She pinched him.

"Ow!" Soul rubbed the pain in his arm, enviously looking towards Black Star who seemed to be hitting it off great with the ponytail girl. "It's true, you cook terribly and you're also sport-challenged. The only thing you have going for you is your brains."

She pinched him harder this time, her emerald eyes raging in fury.

"Fine!" She snapped, nervously letting go of her grasp on him. "I'll go practice by myself, and learn it by myself. Who said I need _your _help?" She fell on her bottom, landing softly on the thickly layered snow. She removed the snowboard that was velcro-ed to her thick boots, and when they were off, she stood up. "When I come back, I'll be so pro, your eyes will pop out of your head!"

Soul laughed at the thought of her progressing in what he_ knew _was hopeless, and merrily waved her a goodbye.

"I wish you all the luck in the world!" Soul mockingly laughed. "I'm sure you'll be better than Shaun White!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I was so awesome, wasn't I?" The boy with spiky light blue hair begged for compliments.

"Ha, yeah, you were," Tsubaki fed him with the honey drenched words he wanted to hear. She stared down at her hot cup of chocolate, the steam rising up to her face and warming her whole body up. She had to spend the whole day with this overly hyper boy, and although it _was_ pretty fun, he was also very high-maintenance, and she was completely drained by the time they were done snowboarding. All she wanted to do was snowboard with Maka, but Soul had made it clear that she was not invited to be anywhere near the blonde with his menacing blood-red eyes. And Kid? Kid was just missing in action.

"Hey, you guys were already in here?" A rough voice called out, interrupting her thoughts. The silver haired boy walked in, his usual pale cheeks a rosy pink from the cold. Little pieces of snow fell on different parts of his black jacket.

"Yeah, what took you so long?" Black Star wondered, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've gone snowboarding," Soul flatly stated. "I just stayed out and had fun until they kicked everyone out."

"Oh," Black Star nodded. "Where's your lover?" Tsubaki nearly choked on her hot chocolate.

"What do you mean?" Soul asked in confusion. "You mean she didn't come back in the lounge yet?"

"Uh...no? I thought she was with you. We knocked on her door, she's not there." Black Star's crystal blue eyes widened when he saw his friends' widen. Tsubaki's mouth dropped.

"Then where the hell is she?" Soul's voice was clearly trying to contain his worry. "The mountain's closed now- they completely shut it down, and everyone's gone home. She-" Soul's eyes widened in horror as he remembered the conversation they had that afternoon. "_Fuck_!"

"What?" Tsubaki worriedly asked, her hands trembling. "What's wrong? Is something wrong with Maka?"

"_Shit!_" Soul continued to curse to himself, drowning out all the other voices around him. He dropped his snowboard and grabbed his cellphone and keys. "I'm going to go search for her, I'll call you when I find her."

"Wait, I'll go too!" Tsubaki offered, getting up from her seat.

"No, you stay here and call me if she comes here. Black Star will stay with you, since it's dangerous to be alone in this secluded place." Tsubaki nodded, as Soul rushed out, slamming the door behind him.

"Please be okay Maka..." Tsubaki whispered, tears starting to form at the rim of her eyes.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

The white flecks of snow were clear against the night sky, each flake creating its own unique path as it floated to the ground. The moon shone brightly above, casting off a silvery glow, smearing the darkness around it. A bitter wind billowed around corners, causing everything in its path to shiver as a result of its coldness, howling as it passed through the surrounding forest. White leaves, hardened by the frost they were caked in, trailed behind the mighty wind, following its every move, mimicking its directions and changes of pace. The air was thick with moisture, hanging heavily, noticeable even through its transparency.

"Maka!" A single voice pierced out into the darkness. The dark figure treaded through the snow, wandering around hopelessly in search for the petite blonde.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" The teenage boy angrily whispered to himself, running his thick hair through his blistered hands. It wasn't supposed to go this way; all he wanted to do was have a fun winter break. If he had known it was going to turn out this way, that she was stubborn to _this _extent, he would have never made the bet with her and forced her to come on this trip.

"Maka!" Soul yelled out even louder, walking up the mountain in desperation, ignoring the yellow caution tapes around the entrance. How long had it been? Two, three hours? His hands were completely numb. Soul continued to hike up, when an arrow leading to a hidden shack caught his eye. He walked down the path, and sure enough, there was a tiny wooden refuge center. It was hidden amongst the huge, encompassing tress nearby and nearly impossible to catch, but Soul's red eyes were keen, especially in the nighttime.

Soul walked up the shack, and noticed it was completely dark inside. He was about to retreat, when he heard soft noises escaping through the empty spaces. His heart leaped, and he softly called out, "Maka?"

The stifled noises stopped abruptly, and a familiar voice shakily replied, "S-Soul?"

Soul roughly forced the lockless door open and found the frail blonde girl huddled up in the corner. It was dark, but the moon gave just enough light for Soul to see that her eyes were red from crying, and although he always thought she was a rather fragile-looking person, she looked like a porcelain doll the way she was at the moment. Just one touch, and he felt as though she might break apart.

"Maka, what the hell?" Soul angrily asked, his voice trying to keep it at a low level. He knew she was shaken up, but he was angry as _hell_. She had terrified him to his breaking point. He had no idea why, but when he thought that maybe she was hurt, or possibly even fucking_ killed_, he found it hard to breathe properly. Now he knew that she was safe, he had to vent out all those overwhelming emotions _somewhere_. "What the _fuck_ is your problem? Do you know how terrified we all were? We got fucking helicopters and policemen searching all over for you, we-"

Soul stopped his talking and basked in the completely unexpected action Maka had initiated. Before he could fully complete his sentence, Maka had thrown herself on him and hugged him tightly, as though she might never let go.

"I was so scared Soul," she whined, tears falling down her face. "I was so scared, I was alone, and it was dark, and I got lost and I had no idea where to go, and it was dark and I was so, so scared," Maka jumbled up her sentences in hurry, as she grabbed onto him tighter.

Soul felt as though a jar of emotions opened up and were flying out of his body, but he stopped the more intense ones and returned her hug.

"You're so fucking stupid, you know that?" He softly told her, brushing her blonde locks of hair through his hands.

When Maka had settled down (which meant she realized she had hugged him and quickly pulled away in embarrassment), they sat down next to each other in the corner of the wooden shack in silence. It was way too dark to go back, and there was a growing snowstorm outside, so they were trapped in for the time being.

"I'm usually not that wimpy," Maka felt a need to say, as she tapped her foot back and forth. She was sitting hunched up, with her face resting on her knees. "The dark just...really gets to me."

"Why?" Soul asked in genuine curiosity. He sat with his legs sprawled out, having a staring contest with the wall opposite to them.

Maka shrugged. "I guess it just reminds me about my childhood. When I was five years old, my dad used to always leave me alone at night, while he went out with his slut-of-the-week. It would be dark, and I would always be alone..." Maka was more than surprised to find herself telling her childhood story this willingly to another person. She never told anyone about it besides her two closest friends, and even that took her a few years, but somehow it just felt right to tell Soul. "He promised me he would come back. He told me to just close my eyes and he'll be there, but whenever I opened them, he wasn't there. It was dark and lonely, no one was there to protect me. I waited and I waited, but no one ever came."

Soul hardened his red eyes at the thought of such a tiny girl having to face the darkness by herself. He had not expected her to tell him such a heavy story, and somehow he felt grateful that she had.

"So I never sleep with the lights off, ever. Or sometimes I just don't sleep. I moved out of the house as soon as I was thirteen to escape from him. If I'm not expecting him, I wouldn't stay up waiting for him, right?" Maka continued. "In all honesty, I _hate_ studying. It's boring and I despise the concept of it. But I do it so I don't get as lonely; if I immerse myself in it, I'll forget about my loneliness. Do you find it silly?"

"No...not at all." Soul truthfully told her, his thoughts now wandering about his own past. He knew what she meant; being occupied with other things to escape from being reminded of bad memories. His medium was the piano and music, hers was the light and studying. "How about your mom?"

Maka stayed silent for a few minutes, before she grimly replied, "I don't know. My mom left both of us when I was two. I don't remember anything about her at all. For all I know, I could have met her and not known it was her."

"If it makes you feel any better, my mom's dead." Soul said, his voice ambivalent and neutral about the death. He had never told anyone but Black Star about his parents, but he felt a need to tell her.

"I would actually prefer that," Maka admitted shamefully. "It kills me to know that she's out there, enjoying her life, not even _once _thinking about her daughter to send even a tiny _postcard_." The way she said "postcard," let Soul detect that she was crying, and he pulled her close to him.

"Don't cry. I hate it when girls cry," Soul ordered her. He draped his arms around her shoulder, trying to keep her warm from the freezing temperature of the shack. "I'm sorry I brought you here against your will, and caused you to trigger all your bad memories. I was being selfish. You didn't want to come, and I should have respected that," Soul apologized.

"...It's okay," Maka assured him, her eyes slowly closing from the drowsiness of all the crying. "It's okay, it really is. I'm...I'm actually really glad you took me here. I've never been to anything like this before. I saw it on television, and I secretly wanted to come here at least once in my life. Thanks for inviting me."

Soul wondered if she was being sarcastic, but her tone of voice told him otherwise.

"Did you know that today was the first time you actually called me by my name?" Maka asked him, secretly smiling in the darkness. "It's always pigtails or that dreaded 'w' word, but today you actually called out my name. It was nice."

Soul felt his body warm up, as her words slowly sank in.

"I get annoyed with you and your concept of 'cool' sometimes, but I don't find you a bad person at all," Maka confessed, her eyes completely closed now. "You asked me a few days ago what I knew about you. Truthfully, I barely know anything, but I do know this: it's that you're a pretty good person. You don't care if I'm a loser that might lower your popularity status, you still want to hang out with me. You could have easily failed my math test, but you gave me a perfect score...and even now, you came here searching for me in the middle of the freezing night. Thank you, Soul, you're a pretty amazing person."

After fifteen minutes or so from her brief speech, Maka started to breathe in rhythmic tempos and she was sound asleep. The white-haired boy, however, stayed wide awake with his intense scarlet eyes staring down at the girl. She had fallen asleep in an awkward position, so he rearranged their positions so her head was lying on his lap. He took off his black jacket, and put it on top of her, in hopes of keeping her warmer. Her words lingered in his head, and a mental war started raging in his head. No one had said such sugarcoated words to him before, besides those "fans" of his that had no substance to their words. Compliments that actually _meant _something were foreign to him, and as he thought about Maka's, strange feelings bubbled up inside of him.

"Idiot, you shouldn't have said that..." He softly said outloud into the darkness. Her face remained peacefully asleep, while his worry-filled voice echoed across the room. "What will I do if I really fall in love with you?"

* * *

**A/N: Errors. Errors everywhere. Lmfao, that's because it's 3 in the morning and I'm writing as fast as I can so I can update this story lol. I have a half day anyways, so it's all good, it's all good. Please review! I broke night to write this chapter, it's the least you can do, ay mate? :) **


	6. The One Where They Get Sick

**Dedicated to:** .Poisoned Scarlet.**v**, CookieTheif**v**, crazychick1313**v**, Luminous Snow**v**, Secret-Modsoul-A.K.A.-TTfanTT**v**, macchi-chan**v**, ScytheMeister**v**, Miyaow**v**, blackrose4123**v**, SoulEaterluvr**v**, cheng**v**, meMonster1544**v**, mandar vortex**v**, arkee**v**, Welnakia**v**, AliceUnknown**v**, mietze**v**, Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan**v**, Slayers64**v**, kaykay**v**, Miss J Idiotic**v**.

**You guys all get a heart. :) Yes, "v" is a heart. Lol.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: **The One Where They Get Sick

Maka woke up to find that she was wrapped tightly inside Soul's soft black jacket. She rose, confused and still a little drowsy, as she slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and saw from the tiny window in the corner that it was still dark outside. Her attention then hovered over to the boy soundly sleeping, his chest softly pumping up and down from his breathing. Her blush was very visible when she realized she had just gotten up from his lap, but it quickly faded when she saw his body shivering. He had his arms around his chest in an effort to keep warm, and she realized that he was only wearing a thin sweater. She widened her eyes and threw his jacket back at him in haste. Was he_ crazy_? Did he _want_ to die from hypothermia?

Maka didn't know when or how, but she fell asleep again and woke up a second time to see the black jacket was around her _again_. Except this time _he_ wasn't there.

"S-Soul?" Maka called out, fear rising up her throat. It was brighter inside the shack now. The blinding sun's rays emitted through the window, but she still did not like the eeriness of the old, worn out building.

"Soul?" Maka tried again, as she took his jacket in her arms and stood up. She looked around desperately for his signature white hair, but the shack was quite small and it was clear that he wasn't inside. She rushed outside, to find him idly looking up at the sky. He noticed her presence immediately, and diverted his attention to her.

"Heya," he grinned, his body still in a state of torpor. She ignored his sluggish greeting and instead flung the jacket at his face.

"What the hell are you doing outside, without your _jacket_ nonetheless? Do you want to freeze to death?" She snapped, as she watched him put on the jacket. A silly smile grew on his face.

"Aw, were you worried about my well being?" He teased, leaving the front zipper open.

"Zip up your jacket!" She scolded him, ignoring his irritating remarks.

"Man, yelling and ordering me around the minute you wake up," he shook his head, as he zipped his jacket up per request. "I highly doubt anyone would want to marry you other than me."

"Don't worry, I just won't get married!" She retorted, the last part of his statement flying by her. "Anyways, how are we going to get out of this forest? Do you have your phone?"

He flipped open his phone and showed her the screen. "No service."

She groaned, stuffing her hands inside her coat pocket.

"What are we going to do now?" She wondered, looking grimly at the thick trees that stretched out for what seemed like endless miles.

"Well, we could go tread through the snow or we can just stay in the shack waiting for others to find us while cuddling and whispering sweet nonsense-" he was abruptly stopped with a huge blow to his head. "_Ow_!"

"You are so, so annoying!" Maka complained, rubbing her throbbing hands together. She had a feeling that she had inflicted more pain to herself than the target when she hit him on the head.

"That's not what you said yesterday night," he cheerfully reminded her, to her dreadful dismay. She was hoping he was not going to mention it, thinking maybe he could have conveniently gotten a brain concussion for some unknown reason and forgot all the words that were exchanged that night.

"I was weak and vulnerable!" She sputtered, an ill concealed blush spreading across her face. "I was drowsy and I didn't know what I was doing."

"Sheesh, you make it sound like I raped you while you were drunk or something," he rolled his eyes. "So, I'm really a_ pretty amazing_ guy, huh?" He wondered out-loud, fully aware she was as red as tomato. He couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I take back all my words!" She exclaimed, walking into the forest. She was clearly flustered by the whole thing. The scene last night played over and over in her head, making her cringe repeatedly as she remembered the terribly cliche words she had said to him. Although they were completely honest, and she really did feel that way about him, she had never meant for him to know it! And now she would never hear the end of it...

"Where are you going?" Soul whined, in a babyish tone. "Let's go together, _Maka_."

Maka moaned, and thought that maybe "pigtails" sounded better after all. It was nice when he called her name out last night, just the way he said it- it was completely opposite to the way he was going about it now. Right now it was just plain creepy.

"What kind of policemen were hired to find us anyways?" Maka asked angrily. "Some rescue team you hired! A whole day passed and they _still_ couldn't find us? Useless! Completely useless!"

"Uh, Maka, we're two tiny people," Soul reminded her, trying to calm her down. "In the middle of a gigantic mountain. Secluded by trees and a shack that looks like it's about to crumble down any minute. I think we should give them some credit."

"Useless!" Maka persisted, power walking down the trail. She knew he was following her from behind, and she was fine with that. As long as she didn't have to see his face, it would be fine. Yesterday night kept replaying over her mind, and she felt as though she might die from embarrassment if she had to deal with him face-to-face.

They were walking down in silence, before Soul decided to speak up again. "Did you mean it?" He asked out of nowhere, causing Maka to almost trip on a rock.

"Mean what?" Maka questioned, fully aware of what he was asking.

"What you said last night," Soul explained. "Did you mean it?"

"Who cares!" Maka shouted, trying to relinquish the topic. She knew that this conversation was insidious, and she desperately tried to avoid it. She started walking at a faster pace, her face beet red. Just when she was starting to forget about it, he just _had_ to remind her again.

Soul quickly caught up to her and grabbed onto her wrist.

"I care," he flatly said, his scarlet eyes staring right at her. His attempts to trap her until he got a clear answer by giving her steamy expressions and strong words were laudable. She felt her face grow even warmer and redder, if that was even possible.

"Why does it even matter?" Maka angrily asked, not wanting to stay on the topic anymore. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to say anything nice to this person- he always took it to the next level.

"Because _you _matter," Soul instantly replied back, his eyes sturdy with honesty. Maka was taken back by his statement, and she opened her mouth to retort something cynical back at him, but no words would come out. She had no idea what to say...

Thankfully, she didn't have to.

At that exact moment, Maka saw a rush of black running towards her and she tumbled onto the snow-covered floor caused by the impact of someone holding her down.

"Maka!" She was relieved to hear the familiar voice of her friend, and hugged her back just as tightly.

"Tsubaki!" Maka cried in happiness, holding down the urge to burst into tears.

"We were so worried!" Tsubaki exclaimed, tears escaping from the corner of her eyes. "I thought you were g-_gone_!"

"N-No!" Maka shook her head, sitting herself up from the fall. She briefly glanced over to the white haired boy who was conversing with his blue haired friend. "S-Soul saved me, he came for me."

Tsubaki widened her cerulean eyes, noting the light blush that came over her friend's small face. "Oh," the raven haired girl said knowingly. "Anyways, let's go home. I bet you're tired from all this catastrophe. Kid brought his car, so we'll just leave with him."

"O-Okay," Maka slowly said, her eyes not being able to tear themselves away from Soul. When he looked towards her direction once every few whiles, she quickly darted her eyes away, afraid that he might have caught her staring.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

When Maka had arrived home, all she could think about was how to face Soul the next day during school. She had stayed up all night contemplating on how to answer his question, if he dared to ask it again. As a result, she woke up Monday morning a mess.

But all the thinking and excuses went down the drain when she saw that he hadn't come to school that day. She tried to ignore it, but it was hard not to notice the empty seat in every class that was usually filled with his presence. She repeatedly try to divert all her attention to her studies and what her teachers were saying, but she found it hard to concentrate. She got home the whole day wondering why he hadn't come. Was _he_ avoiding _her_?

Maka snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her phone ring. She went to go pick it up, and was surprised to hear who it was at the other end of the line.

"M-Maka?" A hoarse voice asked weakly.

"S..._Soul_?" Maka wondered. The voice sounded vaguely like Soul, but it had lost its smooth roughness, and instead sounded miserably weak.

"Yeah, it's me," he confirmed, his voice cracking. "Maka, can you please come over? I think I might have caught a cold, and I would be fine by myself but I feel as though my head is literally going to split open."

Maka felt a wave of concern hit her. "You're- you're_ sick_? How about your dad or your maids?"

"Ugh..." He groaned in pain. "My dad's never home and all the maids went on their winter vacation...ugh..."

"A-Alright," Maka agreed, quickly grabbing her keys and coat. She disregarded her questions on how he had a hold of her number, and instead concentrated on getting to his house as soon as possible. "I'll be there in around thirty minutes, try to get some sleep."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

When Maka arrived forty-five minutes later, she found a dying Soul hidden under three layers of thick blankets. His eyes were shut tightly, and he had his arm on top of his forehead, in an attempt to cool it down. His silver hair was a mess, and he was breathing heavily. Maka tried as hard as she could to come in so he wouldn't notice her, but he noticed her presence as soon as she came in and he lazily opened one eye.

"How did you get in?" He wondered, remembering that no one was outside to open it for her.

"Jumped over the fence and inserted the code," Maka shrugged.

Soul smiled weakly at the mental image and asked, "You remember the code?"

"I have good memory, remember? Because the brain department is the only place I excel at," Maka recited bitterly.

"Come on Maka, I didn't mean-" he started, before clutching his head tighter. "Ugh..."

"Where does it hurt?" Maka asked in concern, dropping off her coat on top of his piano.

"My head, it hurts like crazy," Soul said, his breathing getting harder.

"It's because you stayed in the cold for too long!" Maka scolded, feeling his forehead with her cold hands. It was _burning_.

"You_ idiot_!" Maka cried, her emerald eyes looking down at him angrily.

"Wha...?" Soul drowsily asked, not wanting her hand to leave his face. It felt all soft and nice and_ cool_.

"Why did you give me that jacket?" Maka asked, irritation evident in her voice. "It's because you spent that night in the freezing cold shack with nothing but a_ sweater_ on that you're this sick!"

"Eh..." Soul grinned mischievously, despite his throbbing headache. "Instead, _you _didn't get sick, and you smelled like me the whole day. I think it was worth it."

"You're stupid," Maka snorted, afraid that another blush was going to appear on her face. _Why_ did she feel so flustered around him? "Did you eat anything?" She asked, pulling her hand away.

"Nope." He shifted around in his bed, trying to get more comfortable. Maka watched in half amusement and half pity, as he rolled around in his bed to find a position he liked.

"I could try to make you something..." Maka offered, thinking about the various soup recipes she had previously read about in cookbooks.

"Are you trying to kill me from food poisoning?" Soul asked wearily, and Maka resisted the urge to kick him.

"Well, fine!" Maka shook her hands up in annoyance. "You just lie there like a cocoon and starve to death for all I care!"

"Haha," Soul laughed. "I was just joking, learn to take a joke Maka." Maka glared at him, but stopped when she saw his eyes were tightly shut.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Maka tried to ask him emotionlessly, but her words came out drenched in worry instead.

"Yeah, kind of," Soul managed to let the words escape, as he clutched his head in pain. He then abruptly sat up, startling Maka. He proceeded to unbutton his shirt, and Maka's mind told her to _look the fuck away_ but her eyes were glued to his chest. No matter what direction Maka forced her eyes to go, she found them being pulled towards his bare chest, tracing over the way his muscles were carved in his body so perfectly- not too much muscle and not too little. The sheen of light sweat covering him made him look all the more appealing, and her face stultified. She did stop gawking his body long enough, however, to notice that there was a wide scar running across his chest.

"What happened there?" Maka found her voice ask, before she could stop herself.

Soul looked down at where her fingers were pointing and replied, "The scar?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, observing that the wound was an old one. The scar was as healed as it could get but it still left a horrible red mark on his body, defining his whole middle torso.

"This scar is like ancient," Soul informed her. He sluggishly walked past her to open a few windows; he was freezing cold one moment and burning hot the next. "I got it when I was around five years old, protecting this little girl from this vicious dog."

"What little girl?" Maka asked him immediately, not liking the way her voice sounded so..._jealous_.

Soul shrugged, oblivious to the envious tone in her voice. "It was a long time ago. Truthfully, I don't even remember how she looks like or anything, I just remember liking her a lot."

"Oh," Maka said, taking a deep breath out. That was _dangerous_. She seriously needed to learn how to manage her tempers more.

"Uh...Maka?" Soul asked unsurely, his crimson eyes filled with worry.

"W...What?" Maka asked, afraid to know what he was going to say. Was he going to mention the conversation they had that night again...?

"I think I might, I-" Soul looked at her sympathetically. Her emerald eyes widened in realization, that he was going to say something much, _much_ more terrible than "the talk."

But it was too late by then.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"You know," Tsubaki started, chewing on a strand of her stick-straight hair. "Maka really seemed out of it today."

"Really?" Kid asked, taking out a few textbooks from his locker. "How so?"

"I don't know really," Tsubaki admitted. "She just seemed..._dazed_. Like, remember what happened during lunch? She spilled juice all over herself and started to wipe it off with a _fork_."

"Oh yeah," Kid laughed. "That was pretty funny."

"And even now," Tsubaki continued, a little annoyed that Kid was finding such a serious topic funny. "Even now, she rushed home without waiting for us...she _always_ waits for us."

Kid shrugged. "Maybe she had something to do after school?"

"No..." Tsubaki shook her head. "Maka never has something to do after school." It was mean, but it was also the truth- Maka was not a very sociable person and if she had nothing planned with them, she had nothing planned at all.

"So where are you trying to get with all this?" Kid looked at her quizzically, starting to finally realize what his observant friend was trying to imply.

"I don't know," Tsubaki lied, knowing exactly where she was trying to go. Instead of explaining her assumptions, she gave him the partial truth by replying, "I just feel as though we're losing her to someone else."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate _HATE_ you Soul Eater Evans!" Maka whined, her head feeling like it might explode out of her head. So _this_ was the intense amount of pain he was feeling.

"I'm sorry," Soul sheepishly apologized, feeling terrible that she had to endure his pain.

"I'm going to kill you!" Maka threatened, the migraine not residing in the least. She brushed the white locks of hair away from her face, looking at her own face filled with guilt in anger.

"I made you soup, if that counts for anything," Soul said as he handed her a tray filled with warm food.

"It doesn't." Maka growled, slowly getting up from the bed. She looked at the plate in front of her...it actually looked _really_ good. She glared at him once more, before she picked up the spoon and devoured the food down.

"Maka?" Soul called her name, causing her to look up. Her cheeks were filled with clam chowder soup and bread, he chuckled as he wiped away some that had gotten on her cheek.

"What?" Maka scowled, squatting his hand away from her face. She could never get used to it; seeing her own body in front of her, moving when she wasn't controlling it.

"I won't bring up the conversation we had on Saturday anymore," Soul promised her, and she noticed the way his emerald green eyes suddenly dulled.

Maka swallowed thickly at the expression on his- her?- face.

"I mean, I thought about it, and it makes sense that you would say anything at that moment," Soul smiled, although it was quite a melancholy one. "I was your 'savior,' and you were _vulnerable_ so-"

"I meant it," Maka interrupted, looking down at the dish of clam chowder. She had no idea why she felt a need to say it, but the urge to do so was great. It might have been because of the way his eyes looked so dim or maybe because she was in his body and she was admitting it to her own body. It could have been the headache, or possibly, just maybe, because it was the honest, complete_ truth_. She continued to avoid his eyes at all costs.

"What?" Soul asked, a tingling feeling taking control of his entire being.

"I'm not going to repeat myself," she stiffly told him, biting down on her metal spoon. "But I only meant it if you never bring it up again," she bargained, not wanting to be bothered by that one speech for the rest of her life. "If you bring it up again, I swear I will not only kill you, but take back all those words- for real."

"Alright," Soul promised, turning his back to her to hide the goofy grin plastered on his face.

Because seriously, who the hell grins like a _lunatic_ because of what a single girl says?

* * *

**A/N: D: I felt that this chapter was kind of boring. :( I'll make it better next time...I just needed a closure to the last chapter lol. **

**Also, I'm going to try to fit all the characters in the next chapter. xD Haha. **

**Review please! I'll give you hearts: vvv**


	7. The One Where Things Break

**Dedicated to:** AliceUnknown, MakaEvans95, Welnakia, .Poisoned Scarlet., Miyaow, cheng, Better Than Waffles, CookieTheif, Kyoko-Mirror2010, Tokoyonokuni, blackrose4123, macchi-chan, kaykay, Cerridwen-Maiden, Luminous Snow, Lizzy-Chan-InuYasha-Fan, arkee, Lueur-de-L'aube.

* * *

** Chapter 7:** The One Where Things Break

"Because you're _worthless_," the older man, ripe with age, spat into his son's face. His son's misty red eyes stared blankly back at him; not even an ounce of fear or sorrow could be reflected in them. After all, he had to endure this type of treatment since he was five. His childhood was not defined by happy trips to the park or friendly family dinners. It was this shit.

"I bet you that they hate you at school too."

That's when something in him _flipped_.

"I'm fucking popular as hell at school!" He yelled, his voice dropping down a dangerously low tone. He tried hard to quarantine his anger, but his bastard of a father always found a way to wiggle himself in and release the closely guarded pandora box in his mind.

"Oh really?" The silver-haired man quirked his eyebrows in sarcastic amusement, his beady black eyes looking devilish. His eyes looked as though they might swallow the boy in front of him and trap him inside pure darkness with no avail. "Are you sure you're not just making shit up in that mentally insane head of yours? After all, you're a fucking _murderer_."

He knew it; he knew it was coming. That's what he had been labeled by both his father and his brother ever since he was born, and he should have gotten used to it by now. But why, _why_ did he still have that feeling, as though his throat closed up when he heard those dreaded words?

"I-It's fucking true!" Soul exploded, plugging his hands on his ears so he wouldn't have to hear those spiteful words anymore. He didn't think he could take the mental stress of it; this was his limit. It was that time of year again and the taunts were becoming more and more as the date drew closer.

"_Fucking leave me alone_!"

The adult just sniggered in reply, content with himself that he had mentally tortured his son and went about with his business.

"Don't fucking kid yourself, Soul," his father called out, as he walked out of the music room. "Lately I noticed you're much happier, but you'll never be completely happy. People who kill their own mothers just don't live a happy life. Face it, you little devil, you won't ever be accepted or loved. Ever."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Maka, what are you doing?" Tsubaki asked her blonde friend in curiosity, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm drawing," Maka hummed happily, as she picked up a darker sketch pencil.

"Drawing?" Tsubaki asked in disbelief. "For art class?"

"Yep!" Maka answered cheerfully, as she started to shade her picture in absolute concentration. "We got an assignment yesterday, and it was to draw a memory that's filled with lots of emotion and feeling."

"That sounds interesting," the raven haired girl hesitantly replied. She looked down at the picture, and might have been surprised to see that the drawing was not all that bad, if the contents of the picture had not caught her full attention the minute she set her eyes on it.

It was a picture of a girl and a boy sitting next to each other. Their faces weren't draw in detail, but Tsubaki instantly knew Maka had drawn Soul and herself. The setting of the place was dark, and looked cramped with only one window in the left corner. Tsubaki was speechless.

"Maka, is that you and S-" Tsubaki started, just to be interrupted by the flaxen haired girl.

"No!" Her friend instantly denied, a bright blush coming onto her face. Tsubaki looked at Maka sternly with her marine blue eyes, and raised an eyebrow. Maka cracked. "O-Okay! It is us two, but it's nothing really! I couldn't think of anything else really that triggered so much emotion, well positive emotions anyways, so I thought-"

"Maka, calm down!" Tsubaki stopped her. "I never said anything! It's okay, I like the picture. It's nice...although I am wondering when you two were alone like this...?" A mischievous glint in Tsubaki's eyes made Maka cringe.

"It was during the trip, while we were stuck!" Maka defended herself instantly. "Nothing happened for God's sake Tsubaki! What_ the hell_ are youthinking of?"

"Okay, okay..." Tsubaki quietly gave her flustered friend a break, before perking back up with a sparkle in her eyes. "But yesterday at his house while you were taking care of him _the hell_ I'm thinking of happened _right?_"

"TSUBAKI!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

_I'm popular. I'm popular. I'm popular. _

"What's up?" Soul uncharacteristically asked the more "popular" kids of their school after classes that day. He had to confirm his unwavering status in the school.

Harvar and Kilik looked at Soul in amazement, but stopped themselves in time before someone noticed the retarded, shocked looks on their faces.

"No, what's up with_ you_?" Harvar asked coldly. It had been months since Soul last spoke to them; he basically ignored their very existence and now he wanted to talk to them casually, as if they were best friends?

"What do you mean?" Soul asked in irritation, not quite sure why he was associating himself with these type of teenagers. He hated the whole status quo in high schools, how fucking cliched and stupid the whole concept of it. Honestly, they were only 17, 18 at tops- what did they know about living the cool life?

"That _Maka_ girl," Kilik said in disgust, as if her name was some sort of deadly disease. Soul wanted to punch his mouth in and crack a few teeth- not because of the _way_ Kilik said her name, but because he _said_ her name. How dare he address her like that, so casually?

"What about her?" Soul growled, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Stop associating yourself with her, it's so uncool it's blinding." Kilik continued to bash Maka. Soul held in his trembling fist. "Do you know what people in this school are saying about you now? All the girls are starting to lose interest in you."

"Like I fucking care about them," Soul answered truthfully, ready to turn around and end this conversation for good.

"Well, you're starting to get super unpopular," Harvar stated harshly, adjusting his sleek black sunglasses. "You're _unpopular_ because of _Maka_."

Soul stiffened. Maybe it was the conversation he had with his father just that morning and the fact that the damn bastard was right or maybe it was the name- _her_ name- that was spat, but the last flimsy strand of sanity that Soul had tightly grasped onto snapped.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"It's...it's finally done," Maka said in absolute pride and astonishment. She nudged her sleeping friends sprawled out on the floor in excitement.

Tsubaki remained asleep- that girl could sleep through anything, really- but Kid woke up with a groan, and slowly opened one of his sunny yellow eyes. He glanced towards the clock and complained, "Maka, it's fucking _three_ in the morning."

"But look, Kid!" Maka smiled, shoving her completed sketch in front of the clearly annoyed and drowsy Kid. "It took me six whole hours, but it's finally done!"

When Kid's eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the room, he gaped his mouth wide open in surprise. Seriously, Maka had the weirdest hidden talents. The picture was drawn absolutely beautifully, all complete with perfect shading, balance in color, and right use of view point perspective.

"Wow..." Kid breathed out, Maka beaming at his reaction. She had thick bags under her eyes, and she knew when tomorrow rolled around, she would fall asleep during class, but it was all worth it. Somehow, when she thought about a certain _he _and what his reaction would be, it was all worth it.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka energetically arrived in front of the school gate the next day, her prized picture tucked carefully inside a thick folder inside her messenger bag. She thought that maybe she could give a preview to Soul, and she feasted on this particularly delightful thought as she stood near the entrance. However, when she saw his familiar silver colored hair coming towards the school, she was shocked to see him walking in a group with four others- Harvar, Kilik, Kim and Jackie?

Walking with Harvar and Kilik was one thing, but_ Kim and Jackie_?

Maka, not really knowing why she felt such a strong need to hide, found herself leaping into the nearby bushes as they drew closer. They stopped dangerously close to her, about five or six feet away tops...

"Soul, that is _so_ funny!" The pink haired girl gushed, batting her mascara caked eyelashes at him.

Soul simply smiled; it was a horrendously fake one, but the entranced girl did not seem to mind one bit. Maka shifted uncomfortably at the hard soil.

"So really, Albarn means nothing to you, right?" Maka heard Harvar say to Soul.

Maka froze.

"How many times do I have to say it Harvar?" Soul forced a laugh. "That girl means _nothing_ to me. She's annoying as hell, I'm forced to talk to her because of our stupid baby project. The only reason why I deal with her and pretend I'm interested is because she's a great time killer, you know?"

He didn't mean it. He really didn't, and something inside him was crumbling down as those venomous, poisonous words escaped his mouth. But she could neither see or feel that, and so it didn't matter that he inwardly felt guilty for his words.

Maka's bright emerald eyes widened, the words not fully absorbing inside her mind. She felt hot and heavy, and the picture in her bookbag was long forgotten.

_I am _not_ going to cry_, she told herself sternly, barely believing her own words. This very thought was contradicted by the hot tears she felt stinging at her shut eyes, refusing to evaporate, trying to escape from their fragile prison.

She knew it all along, that it was impossible for someone like _him _to like someone like _her_. She knew what she was expecting was far from reality but still…she didn't know that it would hurt so much to hear it from Soul's very own mouth. She didn't realize how torn and broken her heart would feel upon the dreaded words escaping his lips. She hadn't realized how _literal_ the pain would be, as if he had physically reached into her bare chest and ripped out her heart, tearing it to shreds of nothing.

She didn't love him as a _lover_- this, she knew for a fact and had no doubt about it- but she did love him as a _friend_. She trusted him; she opened herself up to him. Just the very idea that he thought so low of her crushed her.

_Leave, leave, leave_, she thought to herself, muffling in her cries to her best ability. But _of course _some idiot had to see her blasted pigtails and call her name out.

"Maka?" Ox's voice rang out from behind, instantly halting the conversation the five member group was fiercely having. Soul's crimson eyes widened, his palms grew sweaty, and he stiffly turned around.

When Soul's dull scarlet eyes met with her own emerald ones for a split second, he realized the amount of pain she felt with his untrue, hurtful words. It instantly brought him back from the insanity he was dealing with at the moment, and the inferiority complex he had with his father was forgotten.

He felt terrible. Absolutely, fucking horrible. There weren't any words to describe the disgust he felt about himself, and he wanted to just go kill himself right there. He didn't even have time to register or remember what exactly he said to Harvar. All he could find himself doing was idly chase after her retreating figure, not giving one shit to the empty threats the group threw at him.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck. Stop following me. Why are you following me? Leave me alone. _

Eventually, Maka stopped running and turned around to face him directly, wondering why the fuck_ she_ had to be the one avoiding him. He was bound to catch up to her anyways, so she might as well face him now than later. When he saw her abruptly stop, he slowly walked towards her, his face filled with remorse and regret. They were far away from the school now, near a famous lush green forest park.

"Maka, I-" he started, not exactly sure what he was going to say.

"_Fuck off_ Soul," Maka hissed in reply and unlike the many, many times she had said this exact phrase to him, this time she genuinely meant it.

"Maka, I really-"

"_Fuck you_!" Maka cried, her tear stained eyes boring into his. More tears rolled down her alabaster skin. "I'm not surprised, I fucking _knew_ it. Didn't I tell you specifically that you didn't have to hang out with me? I told you I was happy with my own fucking life, the fuck is your problem? Fucking following me and shit, and then talking about me that way to your 'real' friends, the fuck are you playing at? Am I toy to you? Look at miserable girl, let's have fun talking shit about her, while pretending to infatuated with her. Well you know what? _Fuck you_!" Maka screeched at him, as she reached inside her bag and dug around for the picture she was so proud of just moments before. She found it and took it out, pointing it at the direction of his stunned face.

"We had to draw a memory that was particularly meaningful for us," Maka spat at him, explaining the picture to him. "I stayed up until three in the morning drawing this fucking shit. To think I thought it was worth losing sleep for you, what a fucking idiot I was. I can't believe I seriously put all my emotions into it," Maka scorned herself.

"It was my _fucking heart _Soul," she finally concluded, before crudely ripping the picture in half and in quarters, and in smaller and smaller portions until it was more than fifty tiny pieces. Each piece flew around in the harsh wind, various parts of the picture getting lost in the current.

Soul stood there, unable to speak out a single word despite his mind screaming at him to say something- _anything_. He couldn't even react to her when she walked right past him, the pieces of her picture still flying around as she passed by him. All he could think about was that he fucked up with the _one_ person- the single person in the _whole world_- that he cared for and was cared for back by. She was leaving him, and that very thought terrified him. It scared the shit out of him.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Maka, what's wrong?" Tsubaki's concerned voice rang throughout the bathroom stall. Tsubaki saw a wrecked up Maka mindlessly roaming down the hallway to her next class, and immediately pulled her over.

"T-Tsubaki," Maka trembled, cursing at the way she was acting so weak. Why was she being to be so..._sensitive_? She was a cold, calculating person. Such strong emotions were not needed nor desired.

"Maka you have to tell me what's wrong," Tsubaki gently told her friend, rubbing her shoulders in a soothing massage.

"I-I want to go home," Maka announced, her voice nasally from all the crying.

"Alright," Tsubaki agreed, knowing that whatever had happened, it was monumental. Maka never, ever cut a day of school, even if she was half dying.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Ever since that encounter, Maka had completely stopped talking to_ him_.

She avoided making eye contact with him in the hallways or during class. Before he could even have a chance to approach her, she would rush out or her friends would come in to the rescue. She didn't even bother with the phone, and any text messages or e-mails were deleted.

But exactly one week later, Maka found an anonymous package sent to her house through express mail. There was no return address, and she opened it in curiosity, not even thinking about the possibility it might be him.

She was flabbergasted to find that inside the envelope was the picture of her and Soul she had drawn a week ago. The picture she had worked so hard on, the one she mercilessly _tore apart_, was there in front of her, glued back together in one piece and laminated. Not even a single piece of the previously butchered drawing was missing.

Maka's hazy green eyes widened at the thought of him going back to the place where she blew up on him to pick up all the parts of her drawing. She had ripped the picture into really tiny pieces, not to mention the wind scattered them around everywhere, some even landing in the woods of the park. Did he seriously search through the entire forest, through all the pointy twigs and branches, just to find the numerous microscopic pieces of paper? Maka's eyes broadened even more when she thought about his appearance.

Was _this_ the reason why he had bandages all over his face and hands the whole week?

The thought lingered in her head, as she flipped the picture over to find out that there was also a small post-it stuck to the back of the picture. On the yellow sticky was a single message in his familiar, messy handwriting:

_"If your heart ever breaks, I am willing to pick up the pieces and put it back together again."_

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**A/N: Ahh! Soul how could you? ! What an ass. :( Although he did something sweet in the end. Still, total dick move on his part. BUT-! If anything, blame it on his dad. I mentioned many times during the chapter that something in him snapped, and that's the only reason why he was being such an ass. xD Okay? Okay! Besides, realistically speaking, people are heavily influenced by the people around them and they are pressured to say or do things they don't want to. I know I've been in that same situation_ lots _of times. **

**Review please! :) vvv **


	8. The One With The Revelations

**Dedicated to:** MakaEvans95, GrossGirl18, abrokencitysky, AliceUnknown, Miyaow, .Poisoned Scarlet., soundofsoul42, crazychick1313, CookieTheif, Kyoko-Mirror2010, Mynameiseliza, arkee, Luminous Snow, BlueFallenRosse, blackrose4123, , mietze, cheng, iloveemoness, kaykay, ScytheMeister, Sammicakes, macchi-chan, Welnakia, Alex-Chan 1234. **vvvvvvvvv **

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**Chapter 8: **The One With Revelations

Maka wasn't sure what she wanted anymore. She really didn't.

The past few days regarding certain events involving a white haired jerk were hellish for her. When Soul gave her the package with her picture and a note through the mail, she wasn't sure if she wanted to throw it out or keep it. Her mind told her to cut it up with a scissor and leave the pieces in the trashcan, but her heart told her to hang it up on her wall filled with other important pictures.

In the end she did neither.

Instead, she left it in-between the folds of the thick dictionary that lazily sat on her desk, having no purpose other than collecting dust over time.

She was _definitely_ not going to forgive him. Because why should she? She had no obligation to, despite his indirect apology. It was a sweet gesture, she had to admit, but it wasn't enough. The pain she felt from his words that day were...indescribable. It was that bad. Only one other time had she ever felt such terrible pain; the other time being two years ago and pain more from fear than love.

The only _real_ problem she had, she decided, was still trying to avoid him during class. He knew she had gotten the package now, and he probably expected an answer. An answer she didn't have. When she got to school the next day, her mind was clouded with numerous mental conversations she could have with him, just to find that it had all been in vain.

He wasn't at school.

She was half relieved and half annoyed. No, actually, she was one-fourths relieved and three-fourths annoyed...ok, she was one-hundredth relieved and ninety-nine-hundredth annoyed. She wanted to talk to him, despite the fact she was extremely nervous and anxious about seeing him. She had cursed him out way too much in her wrath of fury, totally out of character. She wanted to discuss about what he had said about her, if he _really_ meant it, but it was not possible now. Was he being a coward and avoiding her? Whatever it was, it was not acceptable. She was a very impatient person, so when she wanted to talk, she wanted to talk _now_.

Her impatience led her to blurt out "Where is he?" to Black Star, during lunch as he was chewing on a piece of sour candy.

"What, you miss your boyfriend?" He asked casually, stuffing three more sour straws in his mouth. He was alone in the round, pure white lunch table, munching on candy.

"Watch it," Maka dangerously hissed. "Where is he?"

"It's his birthday today," Black Star briefly looked up at her, rapidly chewing on his daily dose of sugar.

"It's his birthday today?" Maka's interest piped up at the new information.

"Yep," Black Star answered, now tearing a bar of chocolate open. "He's probably going through hell right about now."

"_Hell_?" Maka questioned in intense curiosity. It was his birthday, why would it be hell...?

"Soul's birthdate is the same day his mother died." Black Star told her, his clear blue eyes not wavering once. Maka was surprised at how nonchalant he was about the whole ordeal, but stayed quiet so he could continue. "His dad and brother hate him for it, calls him a murderer."

"A _murderer_?" Maka scoffed at the ridiculous label. "She died from childbirth, right? So they have no right to blame her death on him!"

"Yeah," Black Star agreed, sucking on a tootsie pop. The candy wrappers of his previously devoured candy now laid on the corner of the white table, discarded as fast as their contents were eaten. "But it was kind of Soul's fault too. He came two months before the due date, as a premature baby. Soul's mother was always a weak person, and when the baby unexpectedly came too soon, she had to be taken to the hospital instantly. His father, in a rush, sped the car as fast as he could and got into a car accident."

"Car...accident?" Maka asked in shock, all the facts slowly sinking into her head. She had heard from Soul that his mother had died, but the details were blurry.

"Yeah, it just complicated things even more. When they got to the hospital, it was so bad that the doctors told his father that he either had to save his wife's life or his unborn child's. Of course Soul's dad wanted to save Soul's mother, but Soul's mom, in her bloody state, pleaded to save Soul instead."

"My God..." Maka breathed out, shocked at depressing tragedy of his birth. It was almost as if he was born to kill those around him. The thought terrified her.

"Soul's father was forced to choose Soul, and painfully watched his wife die with his own eyes. It's horrible for Soul's old man to blame and hate Soul for it, but it's justified. I can understand his feeling in a way." Black Star shrugged, taking out fruity bubble gum from the side of his pocket. He offered Maka some, but she shook her head. Everything that she just learned left her with a burning pit in her stomach, and all she could think about was the last person she wanted to think about- Soul.

"So Soul never even had a proper birthday?" Maka guessed.

"Right," Black Star confirmed, rapidly chewing the flavor off the gum. "Not only that, he can't even go to his own mother's funeral."

"_What_?" Maka cried out in disbelief. The more she heard, the more aggravated and irritated she got.

"His father wouldn't let him go, ever. He beats Soul up real bad if he so much as asks to join the ceremony, says some bullshit about how a murderer shouldn't go to the funeral of its victim."

Maka's stomach dropped at the thought of it all. How could a person do that to another person, nevertheless a _father_ to his _son_?

"You should go to him," Black Star's order woke her up from the bubbling anger she was drowning in.

"To Soul?" Maka asked for the heck of asking. Who else would he be talking about?

"Yeah. I don't go around telling Soul's past to anyone. Ever. The only reason I told you his story is because I know your presence will make him happy and Soul deserves to be happy." Black Star stated, still chewing on his piece of candy. He looked off to the distance, and Maka was sure it was in Tsubaki and Kid's direction, but she shrugged it off. "I tried to help him lots of times during his birthday, but he always wants to be alone. He isolates himself this day, and really beats himself over it. He believes everything his father tells him, and I can't convince him otherwise. Maybe you can, you're different."

Maka looked at the blue haired boy in complete surprise. Behind that goofy, childish face, there was someone else- someone so different and much more mature than the eye could see. He had layers to his personality, so, so much layers.

"I'm different?" Maka asked him to evaluate.

"Yeah, you're special to him. I can tell. He's different when he's around you...happier, cheerier. He's always joking around when he's with you and teasing you, but he never does that with anyone else. Ever. In all the many years I've known him, you're the only girl he ever talked to for more than five minutes."

It was the strangest feeling, the tingle in her heart as she heard the words coming out of Black Star's mouth.

"I can tell you're a special person to him. He's probably ripping apart with blades of misery, you should be with him," Black Star advised her. "If you really get to know Soul, you'll find that he's a pretty freaking amazing person. He may do some stupid, spontaneous things at time, but it's all because he's insecure. The only reason why he goes around and pretends he's so conceited and all that is because he has the biggest insecurity. His self confidence is really low, he sort of had to convince himself he was better than others so he wouldn't drown in his low self esteem."

"...Where is he?" Maka quietly asked, glancing at her wristwatch. There were three more periods left, but she couldn't wait that long...she had to meet him. Now.

"Every year I always find him at the same spot..."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Dull burgundy eyes stared up at the glaring ray of the sun, the intensity of its brightness burning his sight. He didn't mind the ache that came from the direct contact with nature's greatest gifts, and instead basked in its pain. The sun provided no warmth in the harsh winter weather, but it did leave a blinding light that, no matter how bright it was, seemed to help the pitch darkness in his soul in no way at all.

It was that day again- the day that made him wonder about so many things. So many 'why's and 'what if's.

But the biggest question of all, the one that rose and shadowed above the others like a tower: _Why was he born_? For what purpose?

He groaned in agony, the dark thoughts not disappearing in his mind. He tried as hard as he could to forget all about it, but the venomous thoughts kept floating back to him, reminding him that it was still there.

These ideas and questions used to constantly be in his head. Twenty-four seven they would endlessly roam around the territory of his mind and consume his every thought. But it had stopped at one point...when he met a particular girl.

A girl who actually cared about him, and a girl he actually cared about. For the first time in his life he had these feelings- she was the first person he ever cared about. She was his _purpose_, the only person that meant something to him, and he couldn't even cling onto her. The devil in his head spoke the truth when he said that his insecurities would be the downfall of him.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to be with her, tell her that he didn't mean those words. If only he could talk to her, explain that-

"Here." A voice broke him from his bottomless trance, a hand holding an ice cream cone shoved in his face. His eyes widened not at the fact that someone was crazy enough to offer him a frozen dessert in the middle of the winter, but at the person's voice.

He looked up slowly, anticipation pounding at the side of his chest in expectation. His broken red eyes were what caused her to soften her own solid emerald ones.

"Take it," she continued, shoving the ice cream cone closer to his face. "It's going to melt."

"Thank you," he murmured uncertainly, taking the ice cone in her hands, not sure what she was doing outside. School was still in session...

"Get up." She ordered, as she put her hands crossed over her chest. "What do you want to do?"

"What?" Soul asked, utterly confused at her strange actions. What was she doing here? The thought quickly dissipated- it didn't really matter. He was just glad she was in front of him, her presence soothed him. Just seeing her face, hearing her voice made him content. She saved him from the darkness once more.

"I asked you what you wanted to do." She repeated, a hint of agitation sprayed on her words.

"What I want to do...?" He repeated the question once again.

"It's your birthday today, isn't it?" She told him matter-of-factly. His eyes could only grow bigger, the ice cream cone still completely frosted in his hands.

"Y-yeah, but-"

"So what the hell are you doing sulking around in the middle of the woods somewhere like a pathetic fool?" She bluntly asked, her tone rough around the edges but soft in purpose.

"Maka I-" Soul started, just to be interrupted by the blonde once again.

"Let's run away." Maka offered, holding her hand out for him to take. "Let's just forget about everything for the moment- all the negativity, all the hurt, all the past. Let's just be surrounded by positive energy and detach ourselves from bad situations. Let's just celebrate the anniversary of the birth of a new life."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Hey," Tsubaki greeted the hyper sky blue-haired boy who hopped over to her. "What were you and Maka talking about during lunch?"

"Eh," Black Star lazily replied, placing his hands behind his head. "Something important about her and Soul."

"Her and Soul?" Tsubaki asked, full of curiosity.

"Yeah, I think they really like each other." Black Star toothily grinned.

"Really?" Tsubaki asked, one of her eyebrow crooked upwards in surprise. "Maka and Soul?"

"Yeah!" Black Star excitedly said, completely contrasting to the other side of him he had shown Maka.

"Nah," Tsubaki determined. "Maka doesn't believe in love, believe me."

"Really? Because she just cut school to go comfort him." Black Star blurted.

"_What_?" Tsubaki gasped in disbelief. "Are you serious? Maka really cut school to be with _Soul_? Soul Eater Evans? _That _Soul?"

"There's only one Soul in the entire world that we both know."

"B-but...!" Tsubaki sputtered, not sure how to take the news. She had to confirm the facts, ask Maka herself what was going on through her head when she decided to illegally leave the school's premises.

"Why is this so shocking for you?" Black Star inquired, noticing the boy who was obsessed with symmetry staring hotly at him.

"Because Maka really hates romantic things, and when I mean hate, I mean absolutely _despises_." Tsubaki explained. "The things her father did to her mother gave her corrupt ideas about the whole concept, and then there was this boy she used to date that-_oh_." Tsubaki covered her mouth, realizing that she accidentally said too much.

"Well, you know," Black Star preached, what Tsubaki stated completely passing by him. "when you find that perfect person, all those rules you set before change."

Tsubaki blushed at his words, but paid no attention to the warm feeling over her cheeks. After all, she had a boyfriend back in Japan named Mifune, and she simply wasn't the cheating type. Besides, she would never,_ ever_ date a younger guy. It was one of her rules.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I didn't make the damn thing, so you can just eat it!" Maka's clearly angered voice rang through the semi-fancy restaurant they were in. Their positions were rather comical; she had a fork filled with cake in her hands and trying to stuff it into his face, which was turned to the side in rejection.

"I just don't like sweet things!" Soul lied. He was a big fan of sweet things, but the cake in front of him didn't look sweet at all. In fact, it didn't even look like a cake. It was a big, glop of...he couldn't even decipher what it was exactly.

"Liar!" Maka cried out in protest, still trying to shove the fork down his throat. "I see you and Black Star munching on piles and piles of candy every lunch period!"

"I-" with the tiny gap he opened with saying that single letter, Maka had shoved the cake into his mouth and grinned smugly. Soul closed his eyes in defeat and chewed slowly in agony. He swallowed hard, when he realized the cake wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was pretty damn delicious.

"This is good!" Soul said, more as a question than an observation.

"I told you it is!" Maka rolled her eyes at his humored expression. "By the way, I did make it!" Soul jokingly made gagging motions, which was briefly ended when she kicked him in the shin under the tables. He wondered when she had the time to make it, but decided not to question it further. She had made him cake, and he was happy. And at the moment, his happiness was all that mattered.

They had done a lot of things that day, from going to the local carnival, a music museum, and the movies where they undoubtedly movie-hopped. Like Maka had told him, they forgot about all the past events and people- everything that tied them down to a miserable, chained life. With that mindset, they had an incredible time together. They roamed around, when they decided to stop for a bite and here they were now, stuffing cake down each other's throats.

"You know we're not allowed to eat outside food in here," Soul reminded her, taking another bite of her goop cake.

"Whatever," Maka dismissed the tight rules. "We have one more place to drop by, so hurry up and eat!"

"Where?" Soul asked, filled with curiosity. They had done everything he had suggested...yes, _he_ had suggested. Although all the things they did that day seemed minor and drab, he had done none of them before and they were all things he wanted to do. Maka stared at him for three whole minutes in disbelief when she heard his list, not sure if he was serious, but when his face remained solid, she knew he actually meant it.

"Somewhere...just hurry up and eat."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Tsubaki, I need to talk to you." Kid dragged the puzzled girl to the side, and started to whisper his words. "I heard some news today, and I don't know what to do."

"What wrong?" Tsubaki asked, her eyes searching his golden ones for an answer.

"_He's _coming back." Kid stated, his eyes hardened as he said his words.

"He?" Tsubaki asked, a strange feeling creeping upwards to her throat. She didn't want her assumptions to who _he _was proven true, but this hope was shattered as Kid replied back,

"That asshole from two years ago."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

It was ten-thirty sharp when they had arrived, the raw winter night enveloping their two figures tightly. Soul's scarlet orbs darted around nervously at the endless rows of tombstones, his fingers twitching and shaking. He had repeatedly tried to turn back when he realized where she was headed, but she had a firm grip on his hand and it was near impossible to escape.

"How did you know where she lies?" Soul dove into the ocean of darkness and silence of the night.

"A little birdy told me," Maka replied, holding onto his trembling hand more for support than force now. Silence fell upon them once again, until Maka halted abruptly in front of a huge tombstone, with colorful, fresh flowers near each side of it.

Soul stared into the slab of stone, as he read his mother's engraved name and his birthdate at her second date. He stood there speechless- he had imagined so many times what he would do when he actually met and visited her, but now he was here, he was paralyzed.

"Tell her." Maka softly whispered to him, her emerald green eyes looking up at him expectantly. "Tell her everything."

"I-I don't know what to say." Soul admitted, sweat gathering at the center of his palm.

"Soul, everything that's been bottled up in your heart. Everything you ever wanted to say to her- just let it go."

And as Maka let those words loosely fly from her mouth, something in Soul changed- he was moved, to say in the least. It was as though she had opened the heart to all his emotions, feelings that were locked and hidden away for so long, and the feeling was so overwhelming for Soul and he mentally imploded. They were alone, embraced by just the pitch blackness and peace. In that second of supreme tenderness, he would fade into something impalpable under her expectant, hazy green eyes, and then transform.

"I-I'm sorry for killing you." Soul started, his red eyes looking straight at his mother's name engraved on the elegant marble slab. Maka pursed her lips at his choice of words, but let him continue his speech with no interruptions. "But I wonder-why? I constantly think to myself over and over again, why you would sacrifice yourself for me? Do you hate me that much, that you would purposely put me in such a miserable life?" Soul started to release all the thoughts that have been plaguing him his whole life, and the ventilation proved to be useful to his piled up stress. "I-I never understood. Why kill yourself when you know everyone would hate me for it? Did the thought not cross your mind? I-Because of you, I-I'm hated so much by both my father- no, _your_ husband and _your_ son. Do you hate me that much? Am I _that_ despicable?" Soul spat out his words, coming out as angrily as hesitantly. He stumbled across his words, and when he collapsed on the soiled floor across from his mother's stone, and pulled his silvery hair in agony.

"Why? I don't get it- can you please give me a fucking answer? _Why_? Is it because I killed you? It is your revenge? I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry I killed you so please stop this pain. Everyday, it's just hell. _Please_, just _stop it._" Maka noticed the pain in his blood-red eyes, and decided it was too much for her to just watch when a single tear rolled down the side of his pale, smooth white face.

She slowly kneeled down on the ground with him, and faced towards him.

"Hey..." She whispered softly, cupping the side of his face with her hands. "Don't blame yourself and don't be sorry. You aren't the one who killed her, you gave her life. She doesn't hate you- she loved you so much, so hard that she easily gave up her life for you. How would you think she would feel if she saw you like this? Depressed to the point of death? You should be living your life to the fullest, for her sake."

He looked at her with bloodshot eyes, the tear stain on the side of his face still visible. The words slowly sinked into him, absorbing the warmth that followed through verbally, as she spoke to him. He looked down, but she lifted it up with her hands once more.

"Hey," she gently started, wiping away the single teardrop that fell down his pallid face. He shuddered at the heat of her hands against his cold face. "Thank you for being you, thank you for living, and most of all, thank you for being born."

He stared at her, his burgundy eyes staring straight at her warm green ones. His chest hurt- it literally hurt so bad, he felt it was going to rip out of his chest. Floods of memories flashed by him;

_"You shouldn't have been born." _

_"You killed our mother." _

_"Don't dare to ask to come to your mother's funeral again." _

_"Murderer." _

_"At least have some talents. If you were going to kill mom, at least show you were worth her life." _

_"Worthless, worthless." _

And then, as his whole life flashed before him like a reel of black and white film, colors started to merge and take the form of a single girl.

_Maka. _

_"Thank you for being born." - _The words echoed in his mind over and over again. He had a terrible urge to take her down, and restricting himself from doing so tore him apart inside. It was so painful that he did nothing rash, nothing to scare her or make her run away. He didn't want her to leave, he _needed _her. He didn't know why, but he_ knew_ he needed her. The thought of her being gone or leaving him behind burned him inside. The thought scared him to the core, and the internal war he had within himself to control his feelings, to keep them at bay, lost control of itself. Before he knew it, he had her wrapped around in his arms tightly, as if an unseen force was trying to pull her away from him.

"Ow..." She gently said, afraid to break down the already broken Soul in front of her. "You're crushing me Soul."

"Don't leave me..." He whispered in her ear.

"Ha, what are you talking about you menace?" She faintly joked, but his grip only got tighter. She looked at him, broken down, and sorrow for the boy in front of her washed over her. She did not particularly have any feelings towards him- at least none she knew of- but seeing him huddled up, he looked so small. She felt pity for him, and couldn't help but agree to his wishes. "Okay, I promise I won't leave you," she promised. She felt his tense body loosen, but his grip on her was still tight.

"I'm so sorry Maka," he apologized, still holding onto her frail body. "I'm so sorry about what I said, I didn't mean any of it, I wasn't thinking, I was pressured and-"

"It's fine," she interrupted him. And it was fine, because now she knew. Now she knew Soul, in his entirety.

He dried away all his remaining tears, and after ten minutes harshly pulled her away- regrettably- and looking straight at her grassy green eyes, told her with his trademark crooked smile,

"You better not tell anyone I cried, pigtails." It was a light threat, his sharp white teeth showing through his cocky grin.

A smile tugged at her lips- the Soul she knew was _finally_ back.

"I'm not scared of you," was her reply, adding in a small smile. "Anyways, come on. Let's get going now," she commanded, standing up from the frozen soil. She held out her hand to him, and pulled him up. She turned around and slowly started to leave, but she was stopped by a sharp tug on her arm.

"Hey Maka. Thank you." His velvet voice was dripping with sincerity and Maka smiled, glad that the hole in their friendship was mended. She was completely oblivious to the fact that on Soul's 18th birthday, she had not only altered his life forever, but became the person he would devote the rest of his life obsessing over.

"You're welcome."

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update. I did finish this chapter a long time ago, but then I decided I wrote it way too crappy, and I liked the content and decided it didn't deserve such crappy writing. So I wrote it completely over. It's still crappish, but it's better lol. It's super long, if that makes up for anything! Also, I didn't check this over, and I will eventually, so please excuse my errors. D: **

**Also, I'm sorry for any OOCness. I blame it on my guy friends, in which Soul's character is based off of. Oh, and my own personality, in which Maka's personality is based off of. Sort of. I tried to tone it down though. :x **

**Please review! I've said this so many times before but...it really means a lot to me! :O vvv **


	9. The One With The Eyes

**Dedicated to:** .Poisoned Scarlet., AliceUnknown, Luminous Snow, Better Than Waffles, Miyaow, Alex-Chan 1234, MakaEvans95, cheng, kaykay, SetsukoMurasaki, iloveemoness, aviechan, .TwilightXx, TsubasaYuki, arkee, CookieTheif, bellaciao, watevs1404.

* * *

**Chapter 9: **The One With The Eyes

When Maka had comforted Soul on his birthday, which was conveniently yesterday, she was content with a simple 'Thank you.' Really, that's all she wanted and expected.

What she _didn't_ want was said boy standing in front of her door at six in the morning with a few suitcases, making the most preposterous claims she heard since Kid told her he wasn't obsessed with symmetry.

"Are you out of your mind?" The words somehow managed to come out of her dry mouth. She swallowed hard at the smirk that grew on his face. "What do you mean you're moving in with me?"

"Exactly that."

"...Are you out of your mind?" She tried again, not knowing what else to say. What _could_ she say? She would have said _"Are you joking me?"_ but that question was already answered with the suitcases he held in his hand. He wasn't joking.

"Pigtails, I was thinking about a lot of things yesterday," he informed her, half joking and half serious. "And I came to the conclusion that I _must_ live with you."

It was true- after the whole funeral episode and they had both gone to their respective homes, he spent all night in his room staring blankly at the ceiling. The thumping in his chest didn't recede over time, like he hoped it would, and all he could think about was Maka.

Everywhere he turned he would only see _her_ face, hear _her _voice, and the more he thought about her, the more that disgustingly nostalgic feeling in his chest would fire up. He needed to know what the feeling was and he ultimately figured that the only way that was possible was to be with her as much as he could. Besides, he reasoned, he hated his house with a burning passion and she was lonely at night. It was the perfect plan, she just needed to realize it.

Maka tried to shut the door on him as her response, but he quickly put his foot between the door and stopped it from closing.

"Look, I'm not asking for a yes or a no," Soul yawned, his foot not budging from the door. "I'm moving in no matter what you say or do, so let's just save ourselves a whole bunch of time and energy by ending this bickering now."

His drowsy red eyes widened at a sudden hardcover book flying towards his face, and dodged it by a millisecond.

Where the hell did that come from?

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Where is the sack?" Maka asked impatiently, as she rummaged through the various contents inside his suitcase. It was nowhere in sight.

"What sack?" Soul questioned, a carton of orange juice in his hand.

"The stupid_ baby_!" Maka replied angrily, the fear in her chest rising as she saw his scarlet eyes widen in surprise.

"I think I might have just _possibly_ forgotten it at home." Soul nervously swallowed, staring uncomfortably at Maka's death glare.

"You forgot the _baby_?" Maka screeched, her emerald eyes piercing his ruby ones.

"It's at home- in my room! I'll bring it over the weekend when..._people_ aren't around," Soul promised. He set the juice down on the counter when he noticed the look on Maka's face didn't calm down.

"You idiot!" Maka groaned, slapping her own forehead in agony. "Today is the day this whole stupid taking care of a flour baby thing ends! We have to have it in today- in perfect condition- or we fail!"

"...Oh." Soul whispered to himself. "Sorry?"

She ignored his apology, and instead shot him a death glare that made him shudder.

"Is there any way we can get it back?" Maka asked him. His eyes darted from her menacing glassy green eyes to his suitcases that were mercilessly and thoroughly searched.

"Well..." Soul started unsurely, wondering how much the project was worth on their overall grade. By the look of panic on her face, he assumed it was a huge chunk.

"Well?" She encouraged him to continue, not noticing the way his hands were trembling.

"We could go back to my house right now and pick it up," Soul offered, hiding his hands by placing them inside the pocket of his bright yellow sweater.

"Ok then let's hurry and go do that!" Maka immediately decided. She grabbed her book-bag from the coffee table and urged him to hurry up. "Hurry up! There's one hour until school starts and although we'll undoubtedly be late for school, we can make it there before English starts."

"Ugh..." Soul groaned, clenching his fists from beneath his sweater. He had omitted the fact that his father always took the day after his wife's funeral off, and was likely to be home.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"First she cuts school and now she's late because of him." Kid scoffed, shaking his head. "He's a terrible influence on her, Tsubaki."

"Oh, I don't know," Tsubaki admitted, twirling a piece of silky hair around her finger. "Maka has personality when she's around him."

"Maka always has personality." Kid argued, fixing the buttons on his shirt so they were perfectly symmetrical.

"Yeah, but..." Tsubaki started, but stopped. She had no idea what to say.

"Tell me the truth." Kid ordered his raven haired friend, who looked at him with her curious ocean blue eyes. "Do you think Maka likes him? Has any feelings for him at all?"

"Him?" Tsubaki played dumb.

"You and I both know who we're talking about, cut the bull," Kid rolled his golden eyes, still struggling with his buttons.

"Well..." Tsubaki hesitated.

"The truth, Tsubaki."

"I-I..." Tsubaki stuttered, unsure if she should tell him the truth or not. If she told him what she really thought, Tsubaki knew it was only going to _crush_ him. Maka didn't know, and even Kid probably didn't know, but Tsubaki knew. She saw it all.

It was obvious that Kid saw Maka more than just a friend, and the idea that Maka possibly loved someone else would probably break him. When Maka had that disgusting boyfriend two years ago, and Kid found out what her boyfriend was trying to do to her, Kid_ flipped_. Kid was always protective over Maka, and they were like siblings. He knew she didn't believe in love, so he never bothered dealing with his feelings. If he found that she started to _maybe_ believe in love again because of a different person-

"Maka definitely loves Soul," a quiet voice interrupted from behind, causing Tsubaki's condensed thoughts to scatter around the bounds of her mind.

"_What_?" Kid asked, turning around to see the girl with terrible hair and tacky clothing staring down at the floor in uncertainty.

"Maka..." The pink hair girl spoke again, just above a whisper. Her face turned a bright red when she made eye contact with the raven-haired boy in front of her. "Maka told me, she kept saying to convince her that she really loves Soul. Maka does love Soul."

Tsubaki was not sure if the shy girl in front of them- if memory serves right, then her name was Chrona- was telling the truth or not. She definitely didn't look like the lying or gossiping type, but what she claimed seemed so far-fetched from what Maka would ever say. Kid must have felt the same way, as he stared down at the girl in front of him in absolute confusion.

"I think you might have misinterpreted," Kid finally spoke, his golden orbs as hard as a rock. "Maka isn't the type to say those kinds of things. Besides, she doesn't believe in love. She said so herself. What makes him special that she would choose _him_ above all the others?"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I'll just quickly go up to my room, you wait here." Soul ordered Maka, who nodded slowly in response. Maka looked around the room she was placed in, and decided that it was maybe the living room?

It was a huge room and there were musical instruments in every corner. The wallpaper was a rich red color. One side of the room was completely filled with only long glass windows, which let much needed light into the room. She explored around the room, and stopped abruptly in front of a _huge_ picture placed on top of an unused fireplace of someone who looked a lot like Soul.

He had the same silver hair, but it was more tame and smooth. His eyes were pitch black, and although he was smiling, his expression seemed grim. He looked about four or five years older than Soul, and Maka realized it was Soul's brother when saw the words, "_Wes Evans- first child of the new Evans generation_" engraved on the bottom of the frame. Maka looked around the entire room in puzzlement.

There was a gigantic picture of Soul's brother, where was the picture of Soul?

"Are you the twit that's been hanging around Soul?" Maka heard a deep voice from behind, and she nearly jumped in surprise. She turned around to see herself face to face with a man with chaotic white hair, his eyes an intimidating mahogany red color. He was definitely much older than both Soul and Soul's brother...Soul's _dad_?

"He's dangerous," the unidentified man continued to talk to the unresponsive Maka. "Misfortune will fall upon you if you hang around with someone like him."

"You're so unfair." Maka flatly stated. Her voice was completely monotone, and the expression she wore on her face remained blank.

"_What_?" The man asked in disbelief, as if it was impossible for someone to dare criticize his predicaments. Maka tore her eyes away from Wes's portrait to look at the man in front of her straight in the eye, her beryl orbs sternly looking into his fire red ones.

"I said you're so unfair," Maka slowly repeated. "_You_ were the one who was driving that car that day eighteen years ago. If anything, _you're _the person responsible for your wife's death. Stop using your son as a scapegoat and face reality- she's_ gone_. Learn to let go of people. I'm sure it's hard, but no matter how hard it is, at least have the common decency to treasure the things- or in the case, person- they left behind. You're acting like a big baby."

The man stood there, speechless, his mouth open but empty of words. He had no idea what to say- somehow, the clear, cold green eyes that looked straight at him and basically told him off reminded him so much of his late wife's eyes. As if she was coming back through the frail blonde girl standing boldly in front of him, scolding him for treating _their_ son terribly.

_Their_ son.

Somewhere between the process of losing the single person he loved most and seeing the birth of a new life in exchange for that life, he had forgotten that Soul was also _his _son.

The small girl in front of him also reminded him of the nightmare he had been burying in his mind for so long; the destructive thought that he was the reason why his wife had died such a terrible death. If he hadn't gone so fast, if he wasn't in such a rush...then maybe, maybe she would have lived.

But he had chickened out. The thought of killing his wife was too much for him to bear- both mentally and physically- so he had to blame it on _someone_. Who else to dump it all on but someone who was already partially responsible for her death? It was perfect, he camouflaged it flawlessly, but this girl...this blonde, toothpick sized girl had read right through him like an open book.

"You don't have to worry about Soul anymore," the flaxen haired girl informed him, waking him from his thick, hazy maze of thoughts. "He's with me now."

And with those words came an arched, rosy red smile, and before he could properly assess the situation, she was gone.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Today is sadly the last day for our flour baby projects," the teacher shook her head in disappointment. "I really loved this project, but we really do have to move on."

A few students looked across the room at each other and shrugged at their teacher's unusual dreariness. Usually she was chipper and hyper, but today she stayed dull.

"Truthfully, I feel as though none of you guys really learned anything on interactions from this project," the teacher sadly admitted, sitting herself on top of her polished desk.

Soul grinned when he heard this, and his eyes immediately floated to Maka, who was staring at him with a curious face as well. She quickly darted her eyes away when they met for a brief second, flushed from the cocky smirk and wink he added in.

"I'm going to call up the groups one by one and the whole 'family' will take a picture. Then you'll say something you learned from your 'husband' or 'wife' throughout this journey. I'll give you a trait, and please evaluate on it." The teacher brightened up slightly at the thought, before she frowned again. "Please don't screw this up. First couple, Kim and Ox? The subject is hair."

"He's as bald as an eagle." Kim snorted, looking at the clearly love-stricken Ox in disgust. Marie sighed at the rude comment, and rubbed her temples together to calm herself down.

"She's the most _beautiful_ angel I have ever set my eyes on...!" Ox replied, his excitement growing by each passing second. The crushed teacher straightened her back a little at his outburst. "This project really changed my life! All I could think about now is her beautiful pink hair, it's like the color of pepto-bismal. You know, the stomach medicine? Thinking of stomach medicine, I need to -"

"Okay, Ox, that's nice. We don't have a lot of time, so we'll just stop there. Good job." Marie cut him off, scribbling something inside her grade-book. She took a picture of them, took their flour baby, and gave them an obviously forced smile. "Jackie and Harvar?"

The couples continued to go up,and Maka droned them out, her thoughts consumed by what happened earlier that morning. Maka left the man, who she was positive was Soul's dad- and if it wasn't, she would have made an absolute fool of herself- completely speechless and ran off to Soul's room before he could retort back to her. Maka didn't know what came to her when she spoke to him - she was so _rude_! But the thought of what he had done to Soul all his life annoyed her greatly, and -

"Pigtails, she's calling us." Soul's lazy voice pulled her back to reality.

"Oh...oh!" Maka almost tripped out of her seat, and hastily went up to the room, taking the package of flour with her. A few girls in the classroom shot her dirty glares, but she ignored them. Why bother?

"Soul and Maka, your subject is _eyes_," the teacher unenthusiastically said, now completely given up on the idea of finding this activity useful at all in the socializing department.

Maka looked over at Soul, urging him to start, but he shook his head in response.

"You first," he mouthed out the words.

Maka felt heat spread onto her face, as she stumbled upon which words to say.

"I...uh...well...most of the time his eyes are a dull red. They kind of remind me of the an unpolished ruby. But then they change shade according to what mood he's in. When he's happier, they seem lighter, but if he's angry or upset about anything, they turn darker...like a beautiful, dark scarlet tone."

This statement caught the attention of more than a few people in the room: the teacher Marie and Soul in particular. Maka noticed all wandering eyes were now on her, and turned completely red. She was more than ready to walk immediately back to her seat and cover her face with the English textbook, when she heard Soul speak.

"At first you'd say her eyes are green…" he began, ignoring Maka's surprised expression. "But then if you look closely, you'll see a mixture of different hues. And then when the sun is shining down on them, her eyes turn a greenish-blue, like the color of the ocean when it's calm and peaceful. There are strong streaks of emerald in them...and when she gets frustrated, it's a deep green, almost blue- like the sky when a storm's brewing up. You don't ever want to get her mad, but the color her eyes turn when she gets frustrated is such a beautiful, rich color, you kind of want to purposely mess around with her. Just to see that perfect balance and shade of green."

Maka's eyes widened at his description, as did everyone in the English room's did. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, a feeling so strong she had no idea what how to react or respond to it. A few girls in the back squealed or faked a faint and even some of the guys in the room looked touched. Did the teacher have a tear in her eye...?

Soul briefly glanced over at Maka, who he noticed was tomato red and shocked. He grinned.

Needless to say, Soul and Maka both got perfect scores on the flour baby project.

* * *

**A/N: Eyes, eyes, eyes! I love their eyes. Both of them. **

**Please review! vvv**


	10. The One With The Picture

**A/N: Fluff chapter before drama! Soul's arc is basically done and this is the start of Maka's. C:**

**Dedicated to: **cheng, Mynameiseliza, MakaEvans95, Tokoyonokuni, GrossGirl18, AliceUnknown, kaykay, TheBadsun, watevs1404, macchi-chan, Luminous Snow, DeadlySereneGrace, .TwilightXx, Soulcandyeyecandy, blackrose4123, Slayers64, crazychick1313, Aquatwin, arkee, aviechan, CookieTheif, iloveemoness, Miyaow!

**Ahh, you guys make it worthwhile. You guys really do. :') **

* * *

**Chapter 10: **The One With The Picture

The feeling was still there.

It was a whole week since he moved in and yet that unknown and indescribable feeling in his chest persisted. He was convinced that if he moved in with _her_, he would find out what the irritating feeling was. It crept up to Soul and bothered him, consuming his every thoughts. It felt like he was being constantly smoldered; he felt restricted and caged, like there was a heavy load on top of him. He tried and tried to place a name on the particular emotion, but he failed miserably.

It was a dead end.

"I told you to pick up your clothes after coming home from school!" A nagging voice woke him from his daze. "Get out, get out, get out!"

He lazily flipped open one of his dark ember eyes and looked smugly at her scowling face.

"But I'm so tired, _Maka,_" he whined in protest, closing the opened eye. He was resting on the leather couch, his long legs sprawled out in comfort.

"I don't care!" Maka angrily said, picking up his discarded jeans on the floor. "It was so clean and tidy in here before you moved in. Now it's no better than a pig pen!"

"Aw, don't say that," Soul grinned, talking while his eyes remained closed. "I know you like me here, I keep you in company at night."

A furious blush painted her face a dark red hue and she mumbled, "That sounds so wrong."

Despite her distance from him and the low volume of her voice, he overheard and smirked. "You seem to always interpret my words in a much more _naughty_ way than I initially intend them to be. Are you trying to hint at something?"

Maka responded by tossing yet another textbook his way. He grumbled in pain as the book made contact with his head. How many times had it been that week?

"Sheesh, how many books do you have?" Soul asked painfully, rubbing his sore skull. If he started to get dumber because of a dramatic decrease in brain cells, he knew who to blame.

"A lot," she responded. "And they'll all end up on your head if you keep leaving your things on the floor."

"Calm yourself, Maka." He nervously tried to soothe her, as he slowly stood up from his comfort zone. "Besides, I need a lot of energy to brace myself for tomorrow."

"Brace yourself for what?" Maka asked curiously, picking up the thrown textbook from the ground and neatly placing it back on the shelf.

"Don't tell me you forgot what day it is tomorrow!" Soul slapped his forehead at Maka's confused face.

"What?" She asked, agitated from the way he always beat around the bushes.

"It's Valentine's Day. Also known as the day I drown in screaming girls and die," Soul shook his head from the mere thought, his palms getting sweaty. "I'm going to have to dress in layers and run like the lightening."

"Why don't you just cut school?" Maka suggested, her emerald eyes growing wary with the discussion of the particular holiday. She absolutely hated Valentine's Day. It was completely useless and pointless in her opinion.

"And let my fans down?" Soul joked, watching Maka searching for something under the wooden shelf at the corner of their living room. Her position was quite comical- she was lying on her left side, her face peeping determinedly at the gap between the carpeted floor and wooden shelf.

"Because you care _so_ much about them," Maka sarcastically replied, her attention completely focused on the shelf. There was the Biology textbook she thought she lost! She reached out towards it, but her arms were too short to reach. She blew her bangs out in annoyance and tried to reach for it again.

But the impact of blowing air into the constricted space initiated the merry dance of the dormant dust collected on the floor. She widened her emerald eyes in horror and before she could turn her head away, _it_ happened.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

The sheepish, amused, and sadistic grin plastered on her own face brought shivers down her spine. She wanted so desperately to punch herself in the face and the fact that she would be feeling it later that day was the only thing stopping her from doing so. Besides, she reasoned, she didn't particularly want to adorn her face with a black bruise or be called a masochist from a certain white haired boy.

"Remember," Maka heard her own voice instruct, emerald eyes staring up at her. "Reject all dates, keep the conversations brief and minimal. Avoid all the girls to the best of your ability and run. _Run_."

Maka nodded half-heartedly, wondering if God had something against her. She was always changing bodies with him in the worst situations possible- like the time he was sick. Why couldn't they switch bodies when she needed it? Like the time she got trapped in the dark, scary shack placed in the middle of nowhere surrounded by only trees and snow that time two months ago?

"Why couldn't I just stay home?" Maka whined, Soul's black book-bag strapped tightly on her back.

"I told you," he reminded her. "I already skipped a lot of school this year. If I keep going at it, the college I want to get accepted into will reject me."

"Hmrph," Maka grunted in reply, her shoulders sagging. It was an unsightly posture, but she figured it would be fine since Soul was always in that position on a regular basis anyway.

"Remember, don't be startled if they start ripping your clothes off- that's why you're wearing three layers." Soul told her, smiling a sweet yet terribly artificial smile. "Ready to go in?"

Maka moaned in reply, pulling her snowy white hair in exhaustion and fear as dark bags circled under her eyes.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

What an understatement.

What a total, absolute, complete _understatement. _

Maka felt as though all her energy was drained down a sink, as she crouched inside the janitor's closet, hidden from the public view. She had scratches all over her body and two layers of the three she had worn were ripped off of her body.

The thought, '_Why the hell doesn't he just become a damned superstar?_' ran through her head. The only difference Maka found between Soul and a movie star was the latter actually got paid for bearing with such violent signs of affection, making it somewhat worthwhile to deal with.

What was it with Valentine's Day that made it okay for girls to become chaotic and flip? Even the girls she would have never expected- girls who quietly sat in the back of their English class or girls who dressed maturely and said smart things in social studies- went _wild_ this day. Maka groaned in fatigue, her body aching everywhere. She had lasted a whole four periods and only three more periods remained. As she wondered if she could just cut the next three periods and remain safely in the janitor's closet, the door abruptly opened and she heard the familiar, nauseating squeal of girls drowning her ears.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"What the hell is _this_?" Soul growled outloud to himself, as he saw a modest pile of letters inside Maka's locker. He took out the envelopes, which totaled around twenty, and quirked his eyebrows up when he realized what they were.

_Love letters. _

Soul narrowed his eyes at them, a weird feeling stirring up inside the pit of his stomach. Saying that he was feeling angry was a _huge_ understatement and he was bent on throwing them all out that very second when a boy with reddish hair and green eyes nervously came up to him.

"U-Uh...Maka?" The boy asked, a light blush tinting his freckled face.

"_What?_" Soul asked as angrily as he did rudely, the colorful envelopes clutched tightly in his hands.

"I-I was just wondering if you would accept these," he bashfully asked Soul, handing him a bouquet of red roses.

_"What?"_ Soul asked again, thrown off by the confession. It was one thing that guys had written her letters, but a flat out, _live_ confession?

"I've always had a huge crush on you," the boy admitted, the glare on Maka's face passing by him. The boy drifted his dark green eyes away from who he believed to be Maka, the blush on his face still very evident. "I liked you since Freshman year. I wanted to ask you out so many times Freshman year but I always chickened out. You had a boyfriend Sophomore year, so I couldn't really ask you. Junior year was a mess, with the SATs and all, so I figured you wouldn't want a boyfriend to concentrate on your studies. Now it's our last year here, so I figured..."

"Boyfriend?" Soul asked in murderous intent, his eyes turning more and more dangerous. He flat out ignored the boy's confession, as his attention was diverted wholly to that one word.

"I-I know you were abused that time but I am confident I can treat you right!" He stuttered, only now noticing how grave Maka's expression was.

"Abused?" Soul could feel his wrath boiling, as he clenched his hands even tighter at the envelopes.

"Uh, y-you know what?" The boy decided to withdraw, feeling intimidated. "I-"

"Look." Soul interrupted him, taking the pale boy by the collar. "I'm Soul Eater Evans's and his _alone_," he dangerously hissed to the startled boy in front of him. "If you dare even so much as _look_ my direction, I swear he'll fucking_ kill_ you. You can count on it."

The red haired boy nodded his head rapidly, implying that he understood. Somehow, although it was undoubtedly Maka- the same, cute, innocent and quiet Maka he was attracted to- in front of him, he felt as if Soul had personally threatened him himself.

"And also tell all of your pathetic friends or any other piece of shit that is even _remotely _interested in me to fuck off." Soul commanded the auburn haired classmate, finally releasing him from his death grip. No one was going to take her away from him, not a single one. The boy hurriedly scrambled away, his heart thumping loudly. He forgot the whole conversation the minute he ran away, unconsciously blocking it out from his memories.

However, the conversation lingered in Soul's head like a nasty aftertaste.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Soul caught Maka desperately trying to camouflage herself behind a trash can. He would have cracked a smile in amusement, but the only thing he could think about was the conversation he had earlier. He needed confirmation. Affirmation that everything he just heard wasn't nonsensical blabber.

"Maka." He flatly greeted, causing her to jump up in surprise.

"Soul!" She hissed, her garnet eyes narrowing into slits. "Do you even know the _beginning_ of the extent of my misery?"

"Maka, I face it every year. For three whole years now." He reminded her, amused at her crouched position.

"All day I've been dodging and running! I'm sore!" She complained, pounding her back in an attempt to sooth it.

"Soul!" A girl called from behind. Both Maka and Soul turned around at the same time to face a girl with two symmetrical braids on each side of her head. She shot the real Soul an angry glare, before diverting her attention to Maka.

"I made you apple pie," the girl blushed. "I thought it would be more original than chocolate because I know you already get a lot of it..."

Maka smiled sweetly at the girl, which caused Soul to mentally face-palm himself.

"I'm sorry," Maka apologized, handing the pie back to her. "I don't think I can accept this. I'm allergic to apples."

The girl widened her hazel eyes in shock and threw the apple pie to the floor, as if it was contaminated with a deadly virus.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She hastily apologized, bowing her head at Maka.

"No, no! It's okay!" Maka reassured the girl. The girl's worried expression remained the same. "Thank you for the thought regardless! I really appreciate it!"

The girl, after she had her fill of gawking at Soul's face, eventually walked away clutching her heart tightly and smiling in content. Soul looked down at Maka- who was still crouching- with a bemused smile.

"_What?_" She demanded, slowly standing up. She shook her legs in an attempt to release it from the pain it was in. It fell asleep from being in the same, single position for too long.

"You remembered," he gloated.

"Remembered what?" She asked, fully aware of what he was talking about.

"My allergies." He grinned as he saw a light blush grazing her face. He saw a piece of rose stuck in-between her silver hair and he plucked it out. The rose triggered the memory of the conversation he had before, and he frowned. "You know, Maka. You know so many things about me, but I don't know that much about you."

"What are you talking about?" Maka scoffed, searching for any potential girls that might be headed towards her way.

"I'm saying that-"

"Girl! Girl!" Maka squeaked, running away as fast as she could. Soul barely had time to blink before she was out of his sight. He sighed in annoyance. He wanted to talk to her...about more things than one.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Here Tsubaki," Kid cheerfully said, as he handed his ebony haired friend a piece of chocolate. She gratefully took it and popped it into her mouth.

"Thank you Kid." Tsubaki smiled. She handed him a small pink pouch of candy tied in a silver ribbon in return and he happily took it.

"Where's Maka?" Kid wondered, his eyes wandering around the cafeteria in search for the blonde. It was their tradition to exchange chocolates as friends every Valentine's Day and this year was no exception.

"I don't know..." Tsubaki admitted. "I saw her in the hallway but she was talking to this guy with red hair. She looked really mad."

Kid quirked his eyebrows at Tsubaki's statement but said nothing.

"Uh...Kid?" Tsubaki initiated a new conversation, not entirely sure if she should bring it up. She took a deep breath...it was now or never.

"Yeah?" He encouraged her to continue. He started to untie the silver bow from Tsubaki's candy bag and examined the candy inside. He smiled- there were exactly eight pieces inside.

"D-Don't take this the wrong way," Tsubaki stammered. Kid peered over her curiously and nodded his head in response. "Do you like Maka?"

"Uh, of course I like Maka?" Kid instantly replied back, carefully unwrapping a piece of candy. "She's my best friend."

"N-No!" Tsubaki shook her head. "Not like that- I mean as a _girl_."

Kid stopped peeling the silver wrapper and slowly looked up at Tsubaki with his brilliant golden eyes. Her crystal blue eyes stared right back at him, eager for an answer. He sighed.

"I don't know," he admitted, fumbling with the shiny candy wrapper.

"What do you mean?" Tsubaki asked him to elaborate his watery answer.

"Sometimes I think I do. I care about her a lot, you know? But then other times I think it's more of a _sisterly_ feeling," Kid started. Tsubaki nodded her head lightly in acknowledgement, implying that she understood. "Sometimes I'm positive I like her because I get very jealous when other guys are with her. But other times, I really feel nothing more for her than a friend. I can't imagine her being my girlfriend or lover of any of that_ romantic _sort. Also..."

"Also?" Tsubaki asked.

"Also, I feel like..." Kid paused briefly, his face turning a deep dark red. Tsubaki stared amusedly at her friend, who grew brighter by the second. "I-I feel like if you really like someone, then you just _know_. If you found that special someone, you just_ know_ it's them. That's why I feel as though that annoying Soul person is always around her, he somewhat belongs with her. I think he just _knows_ it's her. It pisses me off, but it's obvious he likes her a_ lot_. For me, I'm not sure if it's Maka, which is why I think she's not the one. I'll probably find the real one someday."

"Aw!" Tsubaki cooed, smiling widely at Kid in an adoring fashion. Kid just sunk lower in his seat, turning redder by the minute.

"Where _is_ Maka anyways?" Kid asked once more, trying to change the topic as swiftly and subtly as possible. He soon found out he didn't really have to, as a certain flamboyant blue-haired boy came their way.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Soul!" Maka ran up to him at his locker. He got startled by her voice and instantly closed the locker.

"Yeah?" He tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible.

"What are you hiding?" Maka slit her eyes at the panicked expression he had on for a split second.

"_Nothing._" He dismissed, looking curiously at her tattered clothes. She only had a shirt on that had rips at the bottom. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. "What did you want?"

"I forgot I have after-school today..." Maka started, and Soul instantly caught on.

"You want me to attend your boring after school activities? _Hell no_!" Soul protested.

"Look, I just ran through the whole school, avoiding and ducking girls throwing their bodies at me all day," she hissed. "It's the least you can do for me!"

"Ugh..." Soul groaned, knowing that arguing would get him nowhere- in the end, she always had her way with everything.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Who the hell takes _social justice_ as a club?" Soul yelled loudly down the hall of their shared apartment.

"It's a fun class!" Maka argued, meeting him halfway down the hallway. She was already home a while ago, adjusting a few new...things.

"It's crap!" Soul retorted back, his hands crammed inside Maka's white trench coat. They walked together to the door and Maka pushed open the door when Soul's cold hands grabbed her wrist and rendered her immobile. She shuddered.

"Wha-" He shut her up, as he filled the gap between her lips and his own.

She would _never _get used to that feeling- the tingle that happened when they both returned back to their respective bodies. It was like she was shot with a jolt of electricity, it send weird vibes pulsing through the entire course of her body.

"You can't keep doing those kinds of things unexpectedly!" Maka ordered, as they pulled away. Her fierce emerald eyes looked up angrily at him. "_Especially _not in the hallway of my apartment where everyone can see us!"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, only half listening to her. She realized he wasn't paying attention and shove her hands angrily inside her pocket. That's when she felt something- a bump. She pulled it out in curiosity and saw that it was a small, cream-colored box.

"You left something inside my coat pocket," Maka told Soul, handing him the box.

"Nope, it's yours." He said, his expression not wavering. His back was on her as he walked into the apartment.

She looked at the box puzzled, positive she never saw the box in her entire life. She opened the box to reveal a silver necklace with its pendant the shape of a single wing.

"It's not mine." Maka told him honestly, not able to tear her eyes away from the jewelry. She really liked it- it was simple and cute.

"I gave it to you, so it's yours." Soul finally said, not believing how _dense_ she was.

"What?" Maka asked, her clear green eyes widening. Her eyes flickered from the necklace to Soul to back to the necklace. "Why are you giving me a necklace?"

Soul sighed in agony, putting his hand on his forehead. He turned around to face a very confused looking Maka. "Because it's Valentine's Day and I want to give it to you, okay?"

"Then I can't take this!" Maka shook her head, as she handed the box back to Soul. His heart was crushed before he could even register in his head that she rejected him.

"_Why not_?" He asked, suddenly feeling extremely possessive. He clutched the box tightly in his hand. This was the symbol, the physical proof, that proved to others and she was _his_- that she belonged to him, and him_ alone_. If she rejected it, then how else was he supposed to mark her as _his_?

"You spent a lot of money on it, didn't you?" Maka concernedly asked, more as a fact than a question. "I can't accept something like that, it's too burdensome."

Soul looked stunned momentarily, before laughing in relief. So she wasn't rejecting him- she was just worried about the cost. Typical Maka.

Maka looked annoyed at Soul's strange outburst and demanded, "_What_?"

Soul genuinely smiled at Maka- not a smirk or cocky grin, but a real smile- which made her heart flutter and skip a beat.

"You don't have to worry about the cost, I won it as a prize in this contest," he lied, handing the box back to her.

Maka, the dense girl she was, fell for his act. She happily took the necklace and examined it further. She noticed that on the back of the necklace were the initials "M.E."

"M.E.?" Maka wondered out-loud to herself. "What's M.E.?"

Maka wasn't able see the mischievous grin grow on Soul's face, since his back was turned completely to her.

"Your future initials," he whispered to himself, making sure she didn't hear him. He smirked at the thought of Maka _Albarn_ becoming Maka _Evans_. When he finally turned around to face Maka, who had grown strangely quiet, the first thing he noticed was that she wasn't wearing the necklace.

"How come you're not wearing it?" Soul demanded, in an audible voice this time. He looked offended.

"I...I'm allergic to silver." Maka admitted shamefully, turning bright red.

Soul looked at her for a few second and then at the necklace, before he burst out laughing. It was one of those rare, full blow-out laughter, and he had to clutch his aching sides from laughing too hard.

"What!" Maka irritatedly asked, glaring at her white-haired roommate who was currently gasping for air.

"Only you, pigtails!" He shook his head, before he broke into peels of laughter again. "Only you."

He then proceeded to reach over her, gently pulling the velvet box away from her. He took out the necklace from where it rested safely in the box and clasped it around her neck.

"You're not allergic to _my_ silver," he decided, throwing all common sense out the window.

Maka rolled her eyes, but she felt a warm feeling spread through her entire being as she saw the necklace dangling from her neck.

Soul turned on the lights to their living room, more than ready to plop into the couch and sleep, when a huge picture on top of the television caught his attention.

It was the picture they took a week ago during English class, kind of like a souvenir for the flour baby project. Soul was wearing his usual cocky grin, Maka had a pretty yet forced smile, and they were both holding the flour baby together.

It was their family photo.

Maka noticed Soul staring intensely at the picture and felt the need to explain.

"I-uh...well, I saw the picture of Wes at your house but I didn't see a picture of you," she awkwardly stated, quickly feeling like a stalker. "So I figured since this is your house now too, it would be nice if there was a picture of all of us. I got the picture today during English and while you went to my after-school club, I got it enlarged." She shrugged, blushing rapidly. "It's nothing, really. Don't mind it."

Soul remained silent and Maka stood there not knowing how to take his unresponsiveness. She could hear the tick-tocking of the clock, and felt stupider by each growing the minute. His back was faced on her so she couldn't even see his expression.

"You know what? I could just take it down," Maka finally said, breaking the weird silence that fell upon them. She went to put it down, when Soul grabbed her wrists tightly. Before she could even comprehend what was going on, or the fire in his scarlet eyes, he held her face and pulled her into a kiss.

It wasn't like those short kisses they exchanged when they were trying to switch bodies and it wasn't messy like the ones in those chick-flick films when there was a dramatic love scene wiggling its way through. It was light, sweet, short, but had so much meaning and passion for the both of them. Right after he let go of her lips, he held her in a crushing embrace, not willing to let go any time soon.

"You have to stop doing that," he said, his voice husky in a way she never heard it go before. She couldn't help but be extremely attracted to it. It was drenched in honey, and his voice was as sweet as it was seductive. Her mind was still hazy from processing the meaning of the kiss. It was the reason why she didn't fully understand his words when he said, "You have to stop doing things that make me go crazy, Maka. I already lost a big part of myself to you, how much more do you want to take? I swear, if you keep doing these kinds of things, I won't be able to control myself."

He trembled at the thought and she didn't know what to say or how to react.

"You're welcome, Soul," Maka finally decided on, stiffly returning the embrace. She hated the way her heart was swaying to his words, pulling her down in a state of euphoria she wasn't sure she wanted to be in.

Her gentle voice scooped up what little pieces of heart he had left to call his own.

And that's when it hit him, all at once: the rush of emotions, the intense jealousy, the dangerous possessiveness, the pounding in chest. The huge burden that was weighing him down was finally lifted as he came to terms with his feelings.

He loved her. _The feeling was love. _

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**A/N: Yay! It's Spring Break so I'll probably be updating a lot quicker(hopefully)! vvv**

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**kaykay:** Yay! I'm glad you're happy again. Cx Thanks for reviewing! vvv

**Soulcandyeyecandy : **Haha, I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you for reading and reviewing! vvv

**CookieTheif : **I LOVE YOU. xD That's all there is needed to be said, really. vvv

**Miyaow : **Haha, my eye color is almost black too! But I have this friend who has the most amazing eyes ever- it's like green around the edges, but a bright ember color in the middle. If you look towards the sun, at a certain angle, it's also hazel-ish, it's so pretty. :O But yes! I loved your review, and your commentary at each scene. :) vvv


	11. The One With The Ex

**Dedicated to everyone:**_ everyone being all those who story alerted it, favored it, read it, and reviewed it. It's to everyone who supported me from the beginning, the middle, and those who will be there for me in the end. _

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**Chapter 11:** The One With The Ex

Peering inquisitively at the white letter addressed to him amongst the small stack of letters sprawled out on the coffee table, Soul picked it up reluctantly. He briefly glanced at the return address and glared. Anything that came from _that_ place was not welcome in the least. What did they want? He had a mindset to throw it out but curiosity got to the best of him and he found himself swiftly skimming through the letter.

_Soul, _

_Come home, we need to talk. There's something important that you need to take care of- it can't handled over the phone. You need to personally be here. Visit as soon as you get this letter...It's extremely urgent and I advise you to come as fast as you can. _

Soul instantly recognized the sloppy handwriting as his father's and scoffed at its content. Various thoughts on what his father could possibly talk to him about ran through his head, but he couldn't think of a single positive thing. Unless...

"What is that?" Soul suddenly heard a voice from behind ask. Soul instantly shoved the letter back inside the envelope and turned around to see Maka with a very suspicious look plastered on her face.

"Nothing," he lied, cramming the envelope in-between the folds of the couch.

"You're such a bad liar! That's definitely something important," she protested, glaring at him.

"Ugh," Soul groaned, lightly scratching the back of his head. "It's from home; my dad wants me to come home." Maka's heart stopped.

"Y-You mean go back to that place? You're moving out again?" Maka stammered, not liking the way she sounded so weak. It was just that she was used to always greeting someone when she got home and as much as she hated to admit it, she slept better since his arrival. She never spent a day without sleeping unlike before, and all her nights were peaceful.

Soul crinkled an eyebrow upwards in amusement.

"Why, do you want me here _that_ much?" He smirked conceitedly. "In that case, you have nothing to worry about my dear _wifey_. I wouldn't leave you for the world."

Maka tried to hide her relief with an ambivalent expression.

"He wants you to go home...isn't it best if you do what your dad tells you to?" Maka said, well aware of the power his father held.

"Meh, he just want to talk to me," Soul shrugged, tossing the crumpled envelope away to the floor. Maka's eyes narrowed at the way he littered on the floor of their living room but said nothing. "I'll just drop by tomorrow."

Maka went over to the discarded letter as quickly and subtly her feet would let her and picked it up. She opened it, ignoring Soul's annoyed look, and read through it.

"This sounds pretty serious," Maka said, turning around to stare straight into his bored scarlet eyes.

"He wrote like what, two sentences?" Soul pointed out in disdain. "Shows how much he cares. It's been a whole month since I move out and the only thing he sends me is a letter bossing me around. He's just pretending that what he has to tell me is serious. It's a well disguised trap to lure me home and then condemn me in every way possible."

Maka shook her head, her eyes not once tearing away from his.

"I'm sure he's not asking you to come home because he's trying to torture you," Maka reassured him, remembering the way she told Soul's father off that day they went to retrieve their flour baby. He looked pretty surprised back then. The puzzled look etched on his face escalated into one filled with shame. He couldn't possibly _still_ want to bother his son after that episode, would he? "I think you should just skip school tomorrow and go take the whole day to talk to him. Get things fixed."

"Are you kidding me?" Soul instantly shot the idea down, his ruby eyes hardening at the thought of confronting the last person he ever wanted to see.

"Come on," Maka tried to convince him. "I think it'll do you well. Tie up all the loose ends in that relationship...you can't possibly be thinking that you'll just avoid your dad for the rest of your life, are you?"

Soul was more than ready to give up his family name entirely, but Maka's hopeful emerald eyes caused him to cave in.

"Ugh," he complained. "Fine. But I can't keep skipping school like this, I told you so."

"Don't worry!" Maka cheerfully assured him. "I'll tell the teachers that you're extremely sick and they'll excuse you. They all really like me."

"Because you're a suck up and a bookworm," he teased. He instantly regretted it the minute a hardcover book flew his direction, hitting him right on his already abused skull.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka idly walked up the school steps by herself, not thinking about anything in particular. She was zoning out to the background noise around her, immersed in the music pouring out of her headphones. She was lost in her own mental world and it was only when she bumped into another student did she wake up from her musical trance.

"Sorr-" Maka started, only to completely halt her speech as she stared widely at the boy in front of her.

The golden blonde hair that fell down each side of his pale face, the piercing cobalt blue eyes, the numerous piercings that adorned his ear, the white dress shirt that was lazily half closed...

It was all coming back to her at once- the a huge swirl of memories she had tried so hard to lock up.

She wanted to throw up.

"M-_Maka_?" The figure in front of her asked uncertainly. Maka flinched at his voice, stiffly staring down at the concrete floor. He noticed her silence and laughed nervously. "Maka, you're not still mad about what happened two years ago, are you? I was young and foolish; I had no idea what I was doing. My body held complete control over me, forgive me!"

Maka continued to concentrate her eyes on the floor, the nauseating feeling in her stomach growing by each passing second. She remembered it. She still remembered everything so clearly; it was sickening how clear her memory was. The past had haunted her over and over again in her worst nightmares and yet it had meant nothing to him- his violent actions were clearly nothing more than a mere_ joke_ to him. The thought of it all made Maka want to hurl.

"I swear I changed Maka," the blonde boy promised, taking her hand. Maka cringed at his touch, disgusted more than anything. She quickly pulled away, but he didn't seem to notice nor care. "You _have_ to give me another chance."

"What chance?" She snapped, her forest green eyes icily staring him down. "The last person in the world I would give another chance to is you!"

"That's not nice." He frowned, a chill racing through his back due to her cold eyes.

"Yeah, because you are definitely the _epitome_ of nice," she sarcastically stated, rolling her eyes. As much as she hated to admit it, she sensed that something was actually different about him. He was less...intimidating.

He awkwardly brushed his hair with his hands, finding the right words to say. "Look, I came here because I felt that we never had...I never really broke up cleanly. I just left and that was it, I guess. I really just want us to be on good terms again."

"Yeah, not happening." She immediately rejected the offer, placing her headphones back on her ears.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Maka...Maka?" Kid looked over his frail flaxen haired friend, who seemed to be in deep concentration. "Maka!"

"W-What?" She finally responded back.

"You were in a daze, what's wrong?" He wondered. She was definitely deep in thought about something...but what?

"He's back," Maka muttered, biting her bottom lip. Kid widened his golden eyes in surprise. "Why is he back? I don't understand..."

"He came back _today_?" Kid asked Maka in disbelief, his honey colored eyes quickly expanding. "He wasn't supposed to come back until next week..." He mumbled.

"Wait...you knew?" Maka widened her glassy emerald eyes at Kid, who gave her a guilt-filled look. "Why didn't you tell_ me?_" Maka asked angrily.

"We didn't want you to be stressed out-"

"_We_?" Maka demanded. "Tsubaki knew too?"

"A lot of us knew Maka," Kid informed her, dodging her interrogation. "But the only reason why we didn't want to tell you was because we knew you were going to flip out once you found out. We were planning on taking care of him ourselves, praying that you wouldn't have to see that asshole ever again."

"I can't believe it!" Maka furiously exclaimed. "I should've been the first person to know! I was so thrown off, I didn't even know what to say to him! He had the guts to tell me that we should be on good terms, whatever that means. I can't...I can't believe...what the hell?"

"Just avoid him Maka, he means trouble." Kid advised her, gently patting her shoulders. "I'll keep an eye out for him in the hallway. You only take advanced courses, so I'm positive he won't be in any of your classes."

"Argh...all right." Maka halfheartedly agreed, as she walked to her first class.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Are you serious?" Soul asked, his eyes widening in shock.

"Yes," the silver-haired man replied back flatly, not showing much emotion. Soul, with the new information brought upon him still not fully digested, started to walk out of the mansion with a blank look on his face when his father stopped him. "_Wait._"

Soul turned around in surprise. "Y-Yeah?"

"I..." The older man fumbled around for the right words, staring awkwardly off to space. "In the past month you were gone, I took some time to _think_. And...And I realized I treated you wrongly. I was completely unfair. I...I'm sorry. I know my apology is nothing compared to my behavior towards you during the past eighteen years, but I'll try my hardest to make it up to you. Can...can you move back home?"

It was one surprise after another.

Soul searched eagerly for any hint or trace of sarcasm in his father's dark red eyes, but found nothing besides genuine sincerity.

"Nah," Soul refused the offer, much to both of their surprise. It was something Soul had always dreamt about- his father actually wanting his presence around the house. But now he didn't need it anymore. It was too late; he found someone better. "Thanks for the offer, but I like where I am right now. I can't forgive you yet but I'll work on it. For now, I'm really content with my life. I'm _happy_, I'm almost impossibly happy and I don't want to leave that."

The man nodded, implying that he understood. He still looked somewhat offended.

"It's because of that blonde girl, right?" His father said, causing Soul to be in a brief phase of bewilderment. "I met her and told her negative things about you to chase her away but she told me off," he chuckled at the memory. "She knew who I was- how much money and power I held- yet she boldly defended you. I was stunned...something in her strong green eyes mesmerized me. Her actions and words remind me of your mother...I like her a lot. A girl like that is extremely rare Soul. Take care of her well, make sure she doesn't slip out of your hands."

Soul grinned cockily at his old man. At least they had one thing in common. "You don't need to tell me things I'm already fully aware of, old man. Maka's not going anywhere. Now excuse me while I go pick her up from school," Soul haughtily stated, as he walked out of the living room in absolute rapture.

"Maka, huh?" Soul's father softly repeated to himself. "What a pretty name."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"You have_ got_ to be kidding me," Maka groaned, as she was greeted by a _way_ too familiar face.

"Hey Maka!" The blonde figure cheerfully chirped, waving his hand cheerfully. "How are you doing there? How coincidental that we have all the same classes together!"

"You probably stalked me like you did two years ago and asked the administrators to give you same exact schedule as me," Maka correctly guessed, trying her best to ignore his goofy face.

"You're still the same smarty pants I was so fond of!" He attempted to compliment her, but his words were left ignored. "So...Maka...found someone you fancy?"

"What?" She slit her eyes at his curious face.

"Well you know, it's been a long time and-"

"It's none of your business." She shut him off, trying her best to concentrate on her class and not the annoyance next to her.

"Maka, I know you're really tired of me, but hear me out!" He begged her. "I really have changed! If you would just hear my story, you would understand _everything_! I really, really did change! I...If you promise to hear me out, just this once, I promise that I would disappear from your life forever! I won't bother you ever again! I swear!"

The last part of his deal caught her attention and she found herself once again looking his way.

"You won't bother me ever again, for the rest of my life?" She emphasized the 'rest of my life' part.

"Y-Yes!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Something was off.

Soul instantly knew something had happened when he saw a dejected look on both Kid and Tsubaki's face. The first thing he noticed was that Maka was not with them and his heart skipped an anxious beat.

"Where's Maka?" Soul asked the two, who were deep in conversation with one another.

"S-Soul," Tsubaki jumped, dropping the piece of paper she held in her hand.

"Where's Maka?" Soul repeated, disregarding the fallen paper that Tsubaki hastily picked up.

"We don't know." Kid answered, deep bags forming under his eyes. He looked panicked. "Hiro probably took her somewhere and we have no idea where."

"Hiro?" Soul asked, thinking to himself that the name sounded awfully familiar.

"H-He's Maka's old boyfriend," Tsubaki told Soul, her hands shaking. "He took her away somewhere and we can't find her. She didn't even tell us where she was headed, and she's not picking up her phone."

"He's the asshole that abused Maka?" Soul calmly asked, making sure that he hid his overwhelming rage at bay. It was useless to get hotheaded now..._calm_. He had to stay calm.

"Yes," Tsubaki nodded, hammering in the details that Soul had hoped would not be true. "He _mentally abused_ her. He kept pressuring her to have sex with him and when she told him she wasn't ready, he just wouldn't listen and kept bothering her. He would tell her discouraging words and always pummeled her confidence. He makes me sick."

Soul had never felt such strong concentration of hate dwell inside of him- not even when his father had called him a murderer. He started to see red spots clouding his vision and he had to take a few breaths to stop himself from hyperventilating. Soul clenched his jaw tight- so tight that he could hear his own teeth furiously grinding away. He held his fist so tightly that even his blunt fingers drew blood from the middle of his palm.

"Maka is already unstable from her father's philandering, but dating a creep like that made her even more reluctant to believe in guys." Kid informed the clearly raged Soul. "The only male that she let herself get close to was me- and that's because I was her friend before she met the_ asshole_. After him, she never got close to any other person of the opposing gender...except _you_. You're the only exception and as much as I hate to admit it, it's because of you that she's starting to believe in men again."

"Are you guys absolutely positive she's with that...that guy?" Soul asked them, not wanting to do anything rash.

"It's our best bet." Kid turned to Tsubaki, who nodded in agreement. "It's better not to take chances and find her as soon as possible."

"And do you have any idea where she might be?" Soul inquired, drawing blood from biting his lips too hard.

"Well...there was a place they used to hang out a lot when they were dating," Tsubaki remembered, anxiously nibbling her fingernails. She noticed Soul's outraged expression from the corner of her eye and wondered if it was just better not to tell him.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"W-_What_?" Maka asked in both amusement and annoyance. She gave him a skeptical look, cupping her hands around the steaming coffee cup in front of her.

"It's true!" He curled his lips to one side, creating a very strange smile. "She's even the one who told me to patch things up with you, or she'll break up with me."

"Okay, okay," Maka stopped him, trying to recollect the information she heard. "So basically you're telling me that after you moved, your mom put you in a rehab for violence, where you met this equally violent girl that you fell in love with?"

He nodded his head, sipping his latte. "The rehab actually helped me a lot. We had to share all our pasts and stories, and when all the people heard what I had done, they really showed me I did a horrendous thing. I'm extremely sorry for everything I did back then. No offense, but it was only when I found her that I realized how terribly I treated you. I would _never _to do that to a girl I love."

"Oh gee, thanks." Maka dryly replied, although a smile threatened to form on her face. It was weird. He still had the same face. Maybe he looked a little older, he grew a bit taller, and his shoulders were broader, but he generally stayed the same. It was astonishing to see how much his personality changed. No, she didn't forgive him. She doubted she ever really would. But it was good to see him change in a positive way.

More than anything, she was glad to tie up the loose strings that dangled from their previous relationship.

"But really, I do love her. I would do anything for her," he smiled at the thought. "At first I was really hesitant on meeting you, but she forced me. Something about not being able to move on without ending things cleanly."

Maka cracked a slight grin. "Well, I mean, I can't forgive you yet...but I -"

Maka never got to finish her sentence because before she knew it, her acquaintance was punched to the ground.

"S-Soul? What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to go to your house?" She asked in total puzzlement, unsure what was going on. Her first thoughts were on Hiro, who had blood dripping down his nose.

"You fucking bastard, what are you doing with Maka?" Soul growled, ignoring Maka's words completely.

"I- _what_?" The blonde haired boy responded back, as confused as Maka was. "Who are _you_?"

"Maka, are you okay?" A gentle voice called out, much to Maka's surprise.

"T-Tsubaki? Kid?" Maka analyzed her two friends, who seemed to have an extremely worried look on their faces. She finally understood what was going on and widened her eyes in horror. "Oh no guys, it's a misunderstanding! I'm fine, really! Hiro and I were just -"

"_Hiro and I_?" Soul scoffed, his scarlet eyes narrowing at the informality. "Maka, in case you haven't realized, this bastard is the one that _abused_ you."

"Y-Yeah Maka, I agree with Soul, you should stay away from him." Tsubaki nervously stated her opinion. She turned red when the people in the cafe started to stare at them.

"People are staring at us, how about we talk about this outside?" Maka frowned, tightly grabbing Soul's wrist. She forcibly dragged him out of the Deathbucks, leaving Tsubaki and Kid inside to look after the injured Hiro.

"What's wrong with you?" Maka harshly asked, fixing her bangs so she could see him better.

"That's what I should be asking_ you_," he pointed out. "What were you _doing _with him?"

"We were just talking about things! Why did you have to go make a scene- in a _public_ place, nonetheless- and cause such a ruckus?" Maka furiously replied, fed up with his rash behavior. "Hiro did nothing wrong, you had no right to punch him!'

"Wait. So now you're taking his side?" He laughed a dreadfully sarcastic and artificial laugh. "I can't believe it, Maka! You were _that _desperate? Don't you even have an ounce of respect for yourself? Are you that desperate and pathetic that you want to reconcile and get back together with that piece of trash?"

"E-Excuse me?" Maka couldn't believe such harsh words coming out of his mouth, and fought back tears. "S-Screw you, Soul. That's your fucking problem, you jump to conclusions and you don't even bother to listen to the other party. Hiro and I were talking about how he went to _rehab_, how he fixed his _behavior_. He was_ apologizing_ to me and told me stories about his new _girlfriend_. Are you fucking happy now?"

"W-What? But I-I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong!" She yelled at him, tears falling down her face. His heart dropped when he realized how much he screwed up. "I thought I might _finally_ have a closure to all this, but you go ahead and mess it all up!" Maka pushed past him, and walked away from the store. She didn't know how to deal with Hiro or anyone for that matter. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep- sleep away everything.

"Wait." She felt a hand grab her wrist. Maka turned around and pulled away from his grasp.

"Don't talk to me. I- I don't want to see your face. I- I just_ can't_. Not now. " Maka shook her head, and continued to walk away from him.

Soul stood completely frozen in his spot, a million thoughts and words running through his head. But for once, he let her go.

* * *

**A/N: I had an old chapter 11, but I decided to fix it up! This is the new and improved, chapter 11! Yay! xD**


	12. The One With The Auction

**A/N: Legit, I started to chant to myself "I could do this, I could do this" while writing this chapter. This chapter was so painful to write (mostly because of my laziness). BUT. It's finally, FINALLY here. Thank you so much to the people who reviewed or PMed me and asked me if I was okay...yes, I am okay. Haha. I'm not even joking, I blocked facebook from my computer just so I could get this done. It was _that _bad. Hopefully, this chapter is just _that _much more enjoyable.**

* * *

**Chapter 12:** The One With The Auction

Maka woke up with her hair disheveled and her eyes half closed. She was still in a light daze, the events of yesterday seeming so surreal and far away. What exactly _did _happen? Everything seemed to be a big blur, a mix of events that could not be distinguished from reality or fantasy.

"Soul?" She called out, rubbing her eyes together. No response. She wobbled to the living room and only fully opened her eyes when she realized his presence was completely missing. She frowned as the scenes that occurred the day before flashed through her head and decided she shouldn't even bother to look for such an inconsiderate jerk like him at all.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Out of sight, out of mind my ass," Maka hissed to herself, as she etched doodles on top of her wooden desk.

"Did you say something?" The teacher asked her, looking quite annoyed.

"N-No, I didn't." Maka blushed when she realized everyone's eyes were directed towards her and she sighed in relief when the bell rang. She ignored the dirty look her teacher gave her, quickly packed her bags, and made her way to the Social Justice Club.

When Maka opened the door to the room where the club was held, she was greeted by long faces and heavy sighs from all corners of the room. She placed herself next to Ox, a classmate she wasn't that fond of, for the sake of getting some answers.

"What's wrong?" Maka asked the bald teenager, who expressed his depression in a posture where he was covering his face with his arms. "Why does everyone look so depressed?"

He slowly raised his head, saw Maka's face, and slowly lowered it back down.

"Maka, you're smart," he said in more of a spiteful tone than a respected one. "You figure it out. What is the number one problem that people face?"

"...Baldness?" Maka guessed, as she eyed the shine on Ox's head.

"_Money_!" He hissed, subtly trying to cover the top of his head with his hands.

"Money?" Maka asked in puzzlement, unable to link the problem with money to her club. "What about money?"

Ox looked at Maka as if she was ignorant and let out a long sigh. "I take back what I said, you're not too bright." Maka was seriously debating on whether to punch him in the face or kick him in the shin when he continued, "Remember that trip we planned to go to at the end of the year? You know, the one to the UN?"

"Yeah?" Maka encouraged him to continue. "What about it?"

"It turns out we can't go after all." Ox sighed once again, the scowl on his face deepening.

"_What_?" Maka cried in protest. "But we've been planning that trip since the beginning of the year! The principal approved of it and everything! Weren't all the expenses covered already?"

"Yeah," Ox sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, and continued the conversation with a drag to his words. "Apparently a huge group of Seniors went up to the principal and told him that 'we need to have prom at an elegant hotel, not the smelly, gross gymnasium' and complained about it for weeks. He finally gave in, and the money that was to be spent for our trip is now going to be used for prom funds."

"_What_?" Maka angrily said. "How is that even fair? How does it make _sense_? I get that people want a fancy prom, but we asked for this in the beginning of the year! How can he tell us about this at the last minute? If he told us sooner, we could've at least tried to earn the money on our own! This is absolute nonsense!"

"Yeah yeah, complain all you want," Ox shook his head in pity. "The principal's way too scared of the prom committee, he's not going to listen to us."

"_Ugh_," Maka groaned in disgust, not sure if she was more disgusted by her school's lack of concern for education or by her principal's wimpy decisiveness. "Then how about we try to earn the money ourselves? If we work really hard, we just might be able to..."

"Dream on," Ox dully said, crushing her hope of ever going to the UN. "Like we can make a thousand dollars in two weeks."

"Well, don't we have five-hundred already saved up? You know, the money we were going to use to call in that guest speaker but it never fell through?" Maka reminded him.

"Yeah, but that still leaves us half a grand to earn," he calculated.

"Well how about a bake sale?" Maka suggested, as she recalled the memory of her elementary class having one to earn money to go to the zoo.

"Yeah," Ox snorted. "We can _definitely_ make half a grand by baking a few treats." Maka glared intensely at the snotty teenager in front of her until he took notice and softened his expression. "I-I mean it's a good idea, but it's not very practical."

Maka nodded her head in agreement and thought about how other schools made money. A festival was out of the question, since planning it would be too time and energy consuming. A play would be fun, she thought, but she doubt anyone would want to see a play with a bunch of students from Social Justice Club. How about...

"Wait!" Maka suddenly outburst in her epiphany, nearly knocking Ox off his chair. "Isn't that auction of buying and selling guys taking place in a few days?"

"...You've got to me kidding me." Ox gave her a stale look, before he found a spot in his arms to place his head back into.

"What?" Maka grinned, unable to contain her excitement. "Remember two years ago that attractive blonde senior raked in around three hundred dollars?"

"Yeah, but he was extremely popular and handsome. Look around you Maka," he ordered her, turning her head involuntarily. "Do you see someone like that here?"

Maka slouched down in defeat when she scanned the room and saw he made a good point.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka came home with different levels of anger rising and didn't notice her white haired acquaintance was there until he called her name.

"Maka." He said, his voice flat and distant.

Maka jumped in surprise and turned around to see his sunken face through the kitchen counter.

"I don't have the time of day to deal with you right now," Maka rolled her eyes and tried to retreat back to her room, her mind set on looking up education laws on the internet.

"Are you still mad at me?" His voice sounded detached.

"Well, what do you think?" She glared at him, not really wanting to deal with him.

"I judged you yesterday and automatically drew conclusions...The words I told you were extremely harsh as well. I really didn't mean any of it, I just...when I thought you might be taking Hiro's side, I kind of flipped. I'm really, really sorry." Maka could automatically tell that he had practiced those lines and couldn't help but find his apology a bit amusing. Yes, she was still annoyed and aggravated that he made it clear last night he had not even a speck of trust nor respect for her but the expression on his face made it hard for her to take him seriously.

She narrowed her eyes, keeping them an icy green color.

"I was actually really offended," she admitted, frowning at the memory. "You didn't even ask me for my side of the story. You just heard assumed what the situation was by that you saw and not only _humiliated_ me but broke my trust. I was finally going to mend an old relationship and have a closure, but you ruined it."

"Yeah I know," he said softly, his scarlet eyes darker than usual. "I feel like an idiot, I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I can't believe how _uncool _I am these days. I'm really sorry, is there any way you can forgive me?"

"I don't know," she said, not really sure if she would be able to forgive him so easily. "I can understand that because you're my_ friend _you want to protect me from someone like an abusive ex, but he changed. He really meant no harm this time, yet you...you were so _possessive_."

Soul cringed at the two words- friend and possessive. One was a word he didn't really want to hear or label their relationship as, while the other word was one he heard too often when he had that occasional, brief talking session with the maid.

"I know, a lot of people tell me that. I try really hard not to be," he admitted, diverting his eyes away from her. "But I can't help it, especially to the people I really li-"

"_Wait_!" Maka interrupted him, as she looked at Soul up and down. He looked as confused as he looked annoyed, and was about to call out on her rudeness when she started to squeal.

"W-What?" Soul asked, taken back by her complete change in moods.

"You're really sorry, right?" Maka challenged, her hands on her hips.

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered, still in shock by what seemed to be a serious case of bipolar-ness.

"Well," Maka slowly shook her head, looking down on him as if she was royalty. "I just can't trust you anymore. You're going to slowly have to build my trust...do you get where I'm going with this?"

"Uh..."

"I'm saying you have to listen to everything I say from now on," she confidently informed him, ignoring his perplexed facial expressions. "Are you willing to do that? I will only forgive you if you promise to do everything I ask you to do and listen to everything I tell you to do...all right?"

Soul was not sure how misunderstanding a situation entailed him to be her personal slave, but he figured if she was willing to forgive him, he would go ahead and do whatever the hell she wanted him to do.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Just don't worry about it," Maka reassured Ox before she found a seat next to her two best friends in the huge auditorium. "If this turns out well, we might be able to get half the five-hundred! Then we can earn the rest with a bake sale..._yes_!"

Ox raised his eyebrows in suspicion but kept this mouth shut.

Maka anxiously sat in her seat. She was more nervous now than when she received crucial test scores- at least she knew she did well on them because she studied...who knew when Soul would bail out on her because what she ordered him to do was " too mortifying, degrading, and dehumanizing."

After what seemed like eternity, the velvet curtains opened and the "host" greeted the students.

"Students of Death Weapon Meister Academy welcome to the annual _The Perfect Date Auction_!" He greeted his fellow classmates, the response phenomenal. "How are all of you today?"

"_Just get on with it!_" An impatient girl from the front row screamed.

The good natured host just chuckled at her rudeness and continued his speech. "In case you transferred to this school this year or you are a Freshie, this event is a tradition that our school has every year. It is called _The Perfect Date Auction_, where there are wonderful guys from our very own school immediately ready for a date! How much are they? It depends on how much they are wanted, of course! All the money that each person here earns will go to whichever school event they want it to go to. I know a lot of men this year are taking place in this event to raise money for prom- I guarantee you will be shocked at the unique selection this year! Yes, all the date candidates this year are male since last year it was all female. Now, without further ado, I say we get this auction underway!"

The audience went crazy once again, and Maka actually had to block the noise with her hands so the earsplitting screaming wouldn't permanently damage her ears.

The host started off with the less popular students, who Maka sympathized with because the girls basically stated that they weren't worth more than ten dollars. The auction went on smoothly for forty-five long minutes, which meant there were fifteen minutes left in the hour long auction. With each passing boy, the queasiness in Maka's stomach started to grow stronger.

"Now!" The host boomed with a loud voice, his voice somehow unaffected by the constant yelling he had done until now. "The time you have all been waiting for! This person is someone that none of you will have even _dreamed_ about. When we got the request for him to take part in this auction, we were so shocked, we couldn't believe our eyes! We had to personally go up to him and confirm it! This person is someone you all know: the last but _definitely _not least, Soul Eater Evans!"

The auditorium went completely silent. Maka's heart pounded furiously, and the quietness in the auditorium was not helping with the situation at all...why was it so quiet?

And then he came.

He had on a sleek black striped suit, with a red rose boutonniere on the left side of his chest. He had his signature cocky grin plastered on his face and his glossy dress shoes made clunking sounds that would have sounded clumsy had it been anyone else who was walking with them. His white hair was unruly tousled by his hands, making him a strange yet fitting combination of elegance and messiness.

"Hey. I'm Soul Evans." He flatly said when the host handed him the microphone, and all hell broke loose.

If Maka wasn't so mesmerized by how natural and handsome he looked in that suit of his, she would have probably fainted by the ear shattering screeches of the girls around her. He caught her staring at him from the audience and smiled widely, and such a wide smile on his sharp face might have looked goofy were it not for the unimpeachably elegant red in his eyes. She felt a light blush grazing her cheeks and immediately regretted asking him to take part in the audition.

She bit her lip in annoyance. Why was she feeling so annoyed when she was the one who ordered him to take place in the auction? Somehow she wanted to feast on the sight of him wearing a suit by herself. She greatly disliked the idea of having to share his rare, formally dressed self with so many people...so many_ girls_.

"Yes!" The host grinned, obviously pleased with the positive response. "It is THE Soul Eater Evans up for auction! For one whole day, he will be your boyfriend and you will be able to go on a date with him! The date includes him playing the piano for you, cooking for you, and hugging you- can it be a better deal? We don't think it can! Well then, let's start the bidding! Starting with twenty dollars!"

Maka frowned, the rapidly increasing numbers that girls were screaming out buzzing in and out of her ear. _Play the piano for the girl?_ She never heard of this! He didn't even play the piano for_ her_ yet, how dare they even entertain the idea?

Maka was having a mental battle with herself, one side telling her ignore her agitated feelings and the other telling her to just throw away her pride and take part in the auction, when a girl in front of her screamed out "two-hundred."

_Two-hundred? _

Maka almost choked on her own spit. That was half of how much she got every _month _for living expenses.

"Two-hundred fifty!"

Maka's palms started to sweat and get clammy. She completely forgot about the trip, and instead the image of Soul, decked out in his fancy black suit, playing the piano for some girl who would undoubtedly be all over him took over.

"Maka, are you okay?" A concerned voice woke her up from her unpleasant thoughts.

"H-Huh?"

"You look a little sweaty and sick," Kid informed her, looking at her quizzically. "Is something wrong?"

"O-Oh, no, it's just a little hot in here, isn't it?" Maka faked a laugh. "I-I'm perfectly fine, just a little tired haha."

"Mhm..." Kid replied full of doubt. He continued to observe her out his peripheral and realized with every increasing number a girl shouted out, she shook harder. It didn't take him long to catch on to the true reason for her strange behavior.

"_Five-hundred_!" A voice boomed out-loud, shushing everyone in the crowd. Maka looked in horror to the direction of where the voice came out, and her prayer that it wouldn't be the pink-haired devil were left unheard.

"Woah!" The host widened his eyes before laughing off his surprise. "Kim with five-hundred dollars, is there anyone who can top that? Going once..."

Maka clenched her fists tightly. The girl in the scenarios she had in her head before being replaced with Kim was more unbearable than she thought it would be. Kid watched Maka suffering in silent agony and then directed his attention to a nervousTsubaki, who noticed Maka's erratic behavior as well. Kid shook his head, wondering why he ever bothered making friends with girls.

"Going twice..."

Despite Maka's plead that someone in the audience would outbid her, the auditorium remained silent.

"SOL-"

"_Seven-hundred_!" A voice offered, sparking the attention of every single person in the auditorium. Even the sleeping boys who had no interest in the boy auction woke up to the voice in shock.

Maka froze in her seat, her grassy green eyes popping out in shock and her mouth dry of words.

"K-Kid?" Maka finally managed to squeak out, as she slowly lifted her head to look at her raven haired friend who had stood up and blurted out the outrageous number. His face was flushed in such an impossibly dark red color that if it weren't for the lack of hands around his neck, one would have assumed that he was suffocating.

To Maka everything seemed to be happening in slow motion- the bewildered look on Kim's face, the coy look on the host's face, and most of all, the absolutely _petrified_ look on Soul's face. The auditorium remained silent for five minutes, before all_ hell_ broke loose.

_"I knew it! What did I tell you all? I told you he was gay!" _

_"No wonder his two best friends are girls! He just connects with them better!" _

_"Since he's so obsessed with keeping things symmetrical, I was positive he was straight! I would've never guessed!" _

_"There goes my hopes and dreams." _

_"I'm not surprised, the good looking ones are ALWAYS gay." _

The host gave an uncertain look to one of the teachers sitting down, who in turn nodded her head.

"Well then..." He continued on with a wave of uncertainty. "Kid with seven-hundred, is there a higher offer? Going once...going twice..."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"I _knew_ it!" Soul repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. He carelessly tossed his book-bag on top of the sofa and started to pull on his tie. "I just_ knew_ it! I mean, how could I not? The signs were all there! I always knew Symmetry swung that way! I just can't believe I was blind enough to think he used to like a certain girl- I should've been more worried about myself!"

Maka narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips together. "Kid's not gay, Soul."

"Yeah, he just likes men."

"He's been my friend since Freshman year, I know Kid better than anyone else. He's not gay." Maka tried to convince him.

"Yeah, he just dates men."

"You're unbelievable." Maka gave him a dirty look, which he returned.

"And you're lucky," Soul replied, tearing off the rose from his top pocket. "You not only earned enough money for the trip and then some, but you also got to know a little something extra about your best friend you never knew."

"I'm sure he has an explanation," Maka confidently said. "He'll tell me the reasons for his actions eventually...for the meantime, you should get ready for that date you have tomorrow!" She snickered, fully aware that it would tick him off.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Do you have any idea what people are saying behind your back?" Tsubaki asked her friend who had his head buried under a pillow. He mumbled back an incomprehensible response and let out a huge sigh. "Exactly what triggered such a spontaneous and crazy action?" He remained silent and Tsubaki stared at him for a few minutes before she gasped loudly. "Don't tell me you're actually-!"

"NO!" He immediately denied. He took the pillow off his head and finally showed his face to Tsubaki, who immediately took notice of the dark bags under his eyes.

"Then why...?" She wondered, unable to grasp the situation.

"You saw it too, didn't you?"

"Saw what?" Tsubaki asked in confusion.

"The look on Maka's face when she realized that her _boyfriend_ was going to be auctioned off to some asymmetrical snob," Kid reminded Tsubaki. "She looked like she was going to have a heart-attack. You know how Maka is. She's the type of person who would rather die than give up her self pride."

"Ah..." Tsubaki finally understood what he was trying to say. "So that's why! Then why didn't you just ask me? I could've tried to buy him off, you could've texted me or something..."

"Yeah," Kid scoffed. "That Black Star kid was right next to you, it would undoubtedly cause a huge conflict between him and Maka's _lover_ if you took part in that auction. I mean, I really don't give a shit about those two's friendship, but you would probably be stressed out over it because you like Black Star, isn't that right?"

"W-What?" Tsubaki stuttered, surprised by his unexpected accusation. "W-What makes you say that?"

"Well you broke it off with Mifune- yes, I found out because he gave me a pitiful call asking why you did- and you're always stuttering or being super nervous whenever he's there or the topic of him is mentioned...like right now."

"I-I do not!" She denied, a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Mhm..." Kid shook his head, wondering why girls had to be so complicated with their feelings.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka squinted her eyes and looked around the park for her black haired friend that called her out. She immediately agreed to his plan of meeting up when he told her that he had something to tell her. She automatically assumed it was about the whole auction ordeal and eagerly came to speak with him. Maka quickly found the huge tree they planned to meet up at, easily distinguishable by its size. She stood under it in silence and glanced at her watch, wondering if she came a bit too early.

"_Pigtails_?" A familiar voice called from behind. She immediately turned around and found herself face-to-face with Soul, who had on a leather jacket and denim jeans.

"S-Soul?" She asked. "What are you doing here?" Before she received an answer, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She flipped out her phone and saw she had one message from Kid:

_Enjoy your early birthday present. _

Maka stared at the strange message with furrowed brows and only understood the true meaning of it when Soul flatly replied, "Symmetry wanted to meet up here."

"Wh..._What_?" Maka asked in disbelief, still staring at the text message on her phone screen. "I don't...wait, I don't understand."

"You don't understand what?" Soul curiously asked. He stole a glimpse of her text message and grinned widely at the message. "Maybe Symmetry's not so into men after all...I believe good ol' Symmetry here is trying to set us up."

"Well I get _that _part," Maka scrunched up her face in confusion. "What I don't get is why? Why would he try to do _that _using _this_ method?"

"Maybe he just really wanted to help you out for your club." Soul shrugged. "Who cares?"

"I care! That's really sweet of Kid..." Maka smiled softly at the thought of her friend's considerate gesture. "But it was really unnecessary. I feel really guilty...not only was it immensely embarrassing for him, but he has no money..."

"What are you talking about?" Soul raised an eyebrow at her worried face. "Kid's family is loaded."

"No..." Maka returned the puzzled face. "Kid's family is extremely poor. He never let me or Tsubaki into his house because he's embarrassed by how tiny it is."

"...Maka, does your naivety know no bounds? I see Kid and his family at our family concerts all the time, an event only rich and renowned people are able to attend."

"No way!" Maka doubted Soul's words, finding them hard to believe.

"Whatever, this is boring." Soul yawned. "Let's stop talking about Symmetry and go on our seven-hundred dollar date instead!"

"And do what?" Maka asked as casually as she could, trying to hide the blush elicited from the word "date."

"Well what do you want to do? Your call," he grinned, taking full notice of her ill concealed blush.

"Hm..." She pondered about it, only cliche date plans coming to mind. "Um...oh yeah! Didn't the host say you'll play the piano for your date? I want to see you play the piano, you've never played it for me!"

"No!" He quickly rejected the idea.

"_Why not_?" She whined in protest. "I want to hear you play! The host guy said you will!"

"They lied! I never agreed to it, they just put it in the program without my permission...they didn't even ask me about it!"

"You're a seven-hundred dollar date!" Maka glared at him. "So totally _not_ worth it!"

"Well you didn't pay so it's fine," he reasoned.

"No it's not!" She protested once again, the anger and disappointment eminent on her face. "Why won't you play for me? What's the big deal?"

"I'll play for you when the time is right," he offered.

"And exactly _when _is the right time?" She slit her eyes.

"Not now," he stubbornly answered.

"That's it!" She crossed her arms across her chest. "Then I don't forgive you and I'll never forgive you for what you did, freak!"

"What? !" Soul cried out in objection. "How is that even fair? I made a complete fool of myself up there on stage- I basically _sold _myself! There are rumors about me because of that stupid auction saying that Symmetry is my hidden lover and I'm still in the closet about my sexuality, but I'm actually into men!"

Maka cockily grinned at him. "You know what that sounds like? A _personal problem_," she smoothly finished.

"_Maka_!"

She laughed, enjoying the fact that the tables seemed to have turned. Lately she was the one who was teasing him or getting him flustered.

"Well, since you're being a total prick and refusing to play the piano for me, I guess it's your call," she told him, as she started to walk away from the barren tree. "Whatever we do, though, it better be worth each and every penny of that seven-hundred dollars."

"Oh, I can make it worthwhile..." The coy smirk on his face grew vastly, as he knew for a fact that the next two words he was planning on saying would trigger an amusing reaction from the blonde in front of him. "...In bed."

Maka choked at his remark and started to frantically pound her chest in hopes of letting some air in.

She figured maybe he still had the upper-hand when it came to teasing after all.

* * *

**A/N: Lengthy, lengthy, lengthy. I made sure that this chapter was lengthy so you guys wouldn't feel cheated after waiting so long for an update. I'm really, really, really sorry that it took this long to update. I know, I know, it's been a_ really_ long time. I also know "I was busy" isn't an excusable excuse, but I can't say any more than that. What I can say, however, is I'll definitely update another chapter within a week(or two), especially since I got rid of this huge writer's block I had. Also, there is an auction like this at my school lmfao. I remember my closest guy friend telling me, "If no one tries to buy me, it'll be super embarrassing so please offer if no one else does!" In the end, he had the highest bid -.- lol. **

**Anyways, I really hope you guys liked this chapter, do leave a review! vvv **


	13. The One With The Confession

**Dedicated to: **xxWARxx, CookieTheif, JacketsAreCool, kaykay, SetsukoMurasaki, Slayers64, .Poisoned Scarlet., Luminous Snow, Tokoyonokuni, AliceUnknown, KirstyKakes, grayqueen, crazychick1313, FlaminHeart1, macchi-chan, mietze, aviechan, breemist123, blackrose4123, Mtsr, Puckabrina NaMi SoMa SasuSaku, MakaEvans95, Shippuuryu. **vvv**

* * *

**Chapter 13:** The One With The Confession

It all started with a simple phone call in the morning.

Soul knew something was weird when she had that puzzled expression on her face as she stared at her cellphone, hesitant on whether to pick up or not. He didn't pay much attention to her when she subtly dissolved into the background with the ringing cellphone still in her hand, but when she came back, he immediately picked up a vibe that something was wrong.

She looked absolutely shocked, for one thing. Her green eyes that had turned misty and blank nervously darted from one place to another, unable to focus on one thing.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow at her strange behavior. "Who was on the phone?"

She didn't reply, but instead bit her index finger as she tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Uh...Maka?" Soul tried again, the worry in his voice ill concealed. "Maka?...Maka! Dude, Maka!"

"W-What?" She finally snapped awake from her daze, although the haze in her eyes remained. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"That's what I should be asking you," Soul impatiently replied, intensely staring at her. He was blunt and straightforward with his words. "What's wrong? After you took that phone call, you've been acting weird. Who was it?"

"No one important," Maka tried her best to smile, which was hard since that was the last expression she wanted to have on. "I'm just tired, I'm going to go rest, okay?" She briefly said, before she retreated off to her bedroom.

"Maka." He called out to her, momentarily halting her from going into her room. She turned around and looked at him curiously.

"Yeah...?" She asked nervously, tucking in a loose strand of hair that fell down the middle of her face.

"If you want to tell me something, _anything_, I'm here for you. I'll do anything I can to help you," he offered, in hopes of getting her to speak.

"I know." She laughed softly. "You proved it to me a month ago, when you 'sacrificed' yourself in the auction. I...I just really need some time for myself, okay? Don't worry about me, I'm totally fine!" She gave him a brief smile and before he could reply back, she excused herself by tightly shutting the door to her room.

Soul shrugged, figuring that she would tell him eventually, whenever she was ready. What he failed to realize was that she would _never_ be ready to tell him the news, or anyone else for that matter.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

She stopped eating.

She tried to hide her starvation the best that she possibly could, but Soul instantly noticed she wasn't eating. She lifted her fork up and moved around her food, pushed it all to one side at some certain point, drank some water, but no food actually went in her mouth. When it got to the point that she missed three meals, he decided enough was enough.

"What's wrong?" He asked, dropping his fork as he stared at her playing with her food.

"W-What are you talking about?" She faintly smiled at him, mindlessly moving around her fork.

"Maka, I'm not stupid. You didn't eat this whole day. You started acting really weird after that phone call. Who was it?" He asked, determined to get an answer.

"N-No one, it was no one important." She lied, taking a sip of her water. "I'm really tired, I'm going to go to my room and rest." She stood up to leave, but he stopped her by firmly holding onto her wrist.

"Maka, tell me what's wrong. I wasn't born yesterday, I can and will stay here all night until you tell me what's up." He showed her that he was serious by tightening the grip on her wrist.

Maka looked at him for a few minutes, determined to stay quiet, but she quickly lost control of her emotions and she broke down. Tears started to stream down her eyes and when Soul saw the tears, he immediately loosened his grip on her and widened his eyes at her action.

"M-Maka?" He asked uncertainly, not sure how to handle her crying. "W-What's wrong? A-Am I scaring you?"

"H-He," she choked out, tears continuously running down her face. "H-He's getting married, i-it's officially over." She was in denial the whole time, and having to deal with reality face to face by saying it herself was like stabbing holes into her tattered heart.

"Who's getting married?" Soul asked in confusion, wondering whose marriage could have such a strong impact on her. "Who's getting married, Maka?"

"M-M-My...m-my d-_dad_." She struggled to get the words out. Her hands started to shake, and she bit hardly on her lips.

"Y-Your dad?" Soul asked, not sure if he heard her right. She nodded in response, as more tears fell down her face.

"I-I know it was unrealistic, but I thought...I really, really t-thought that m-maybe my parents would get b-back together someday, and we could be a f-family, that I would formally meet my mother someday, but now it's over. I-It's officially over. I-I'll be meeting my stepmother sooner than my real mother...I don't want that. I-I really, really don't want that," Maka admitted, wiping away her tears the minute they fell down. "B-But most of all, I don't want to share my dad with another lady other than my mother. I-I don't want him to remarry...I don't want this. I don't want any of it!"

"It's going to be okay," he tried to soothe her, wrapping an arm around her neck. "Maka, you crying won't change anything. Just calm down for now. Let me assure you, it's going to be okay."

"It's not," she whined, hiding her face by placing it facedown on top of her knees. "You don't understand, Soul. You never will."

"You're right," he agreed. "I don't understand, and I probably never will. But Maka, just know that I'm here for you. I'm here for you, and so is Tsubaki, and Kid, and Crona, and even Black Star. We're all here for you. And I am positive, absolutely_ positive_, that your father will always love you and put you first, above anything else."

"If he loved me, he wouldn't do this to me," Maka shook her head in agony. "I- I just can't Soul. I _can't_."

Soul hated the way she looked so...so small, vulnerable, and..._pathetic_. "Maka, shit happens. And as much as it sucks, it doesn't give you an excuse to just sit here wallowing in your own pity. Don't say shit like you can't. Sure, it seems like it sucks now and you want to just give up, but that's the difference between strong and weak people. The strongest people are the ones who are able to overcome their problems with a smile. Maka, you are one of the strongest people I know, and this is a huge- _huge _change in your life, but I have absolutely no doubt that you will be able to overcome it. You're a strong person, aren't you?" He softly asked.

She nodded her head, tightly squeezing her kneecaps. "B-But-"

"Maka, don't forget." He interrupted her before she could doubt herself once again. "Whatever happens, I'm here for you. I _always_ will be. Right now, I really think you should clear your head by washing up and going to sleep. In the morning, believe me, you'll feel a lot better."

Maka wiped her remaining tears away, before cracking a slight smile at the silver haired teenager in front of her.

"It's only six, Soul." She pointed out, taking his outstretched arm as she boosted herself up.

"Bed. Now." He ordered her, pointing to her bedroom.

She gave him half a smile, as she walked to the bathroom to wash her face. Before she went in however, she turned around and told him, "Thank you, Soul. I feel much better."

He grinned cockily, saluting her in a teasing way. "Anytime, pigtails. Anytime."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Hey Tsubaki," a cheerful voice greeted her from behind. She immediately turned around, and in the process accidentally whipped her own face with her long ponytail.

"Oh hi Black Star." She smiled at him, holding down her ponytail to decrease the chances of getting hit with her own hair again. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I...Well...Okay, this is going to sound incredibly stupid," he warned, scratching the back of his head in anxiety.

"Um...okay?" Tsubaki was actually quite used to stupid things coming out of Black Star's mouth- almost all of them unwarned- but she was too sweet to ever make a point of it. "What is it?"

"I...Well..." Black Star dragged on. He was embarrassed, and it showed when he started to turn red. Tsubaki was starting to get her hopes up, thinking he might say something about their relationship until he continued with, "Do you think Soul and Maka are actually serious about each other?"

Tsubaki couldn't help but feel disappointed, but she hid it as she responded, "What do you mean?"

"I...to be honest, I know Maka's your friend and all, but I honestly thought Soul was joking when he said he liked her. Not to be offensive or anything! Just, you know...I thought it was weird." He admitted, loosening the scarf around his neck. "They're so different, don't you think?"

"Well, people say that opposites attract." Tsubaki replied back, hurt by his words. After all, _they_ were totally different from each other as well...

"Yeah, but if Maka was a electron, Soul would be a neutron." Black Star uncharacteristically made the analogy. "He just doesn't care about anything. That's why I couldn't take him seriously when he was chasing after Maka. I mean they knew each other for three years prior to this year, what happened that made _this_ year so different?"

"They had that flour baby project, remember?" Tsubaki reminded him. "I think after that project, they really paid more attention to each other...I think. It's just a thought."

"I guess," Black Star shrugged, turning his eyes away from Tsubaki. "I would never understand what Soul sees in her, but I guess I approve. That's...that's not the point here though."

Tsubaki noticed Black Star's usual laid-back expression transformed into a grim look. "What's...wrong?" She asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"Soul's definitely in love with Maka, I can vouch for him." Black Star confidentially said, lowering his head so he was looking down at his baggy pants. "Soul loves Maka, but does Maka feel the same way?"

"W-What?" Tsubaki was completely thrown off by the question.

"Does Maka love Soul?" Black Star reworded. He slowly looked up at Tsubaki with the sternest face she had ever seen him have. "I need to know, Tsubaki. It's important. There's...there's something Maka should know, or she'll- no, they'll _both_ get seriously hurt."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Soul could feel the oxygen drain out of his system, but he continued to run towards the park where he was positive Maka was. It was close to midnight and the only source of light he had was the moon and the dimly lit streetlight. He couldn't see well in the dark, and the streets were incredibly dangerous during the night, but he continued to race down the streets as if his life depended on it.

Maka somehow ended up sleeping on top of the sofa with him, using his arms as a pillow. She seemed perfectly fine as she fell asleep, but when he woke up five hours later, she was gone. He looked everywhere for her in the apartment, but she was nowhere to be found.

He found her cellphone on top her desk, with a note attached with the following memo:

_I guess I'm not so strong after all. I'm sorry Soul, but I can't. I'm going to end it where it started. _

After a frantic call to Tsubaki, he found out that her parents met at a park near their school, which was incidentally the same one Maka and him attended.

From the context of the message, Soul was positive she was going to do something that would possibly hurt herself and to say that he was terrified was an understatement. When he got to the park, he was completely out of breath and his legs felt like they were going to fall off, but he continued to look for her.

He found her ten minutes later, sitting down on a bench, staring blankly at the ocean in front of her.

"_Maka_!" He ran over to her side, eliciting a shocked reaction from the flaxen haired girl.

"S-_Soul_?" She asked in uncertainty. "W-What are you doing here?"

"What the_ fuck_, Maka!" He dodged her question, still trying to catch his breath from the excessive running. "You had me so worried, what the _hell_ were you thinking?"

"Leave me alone, it's not any of your business. Who cares?" She coldly responded, wrapping her sweater closer to her body.

"I care!" He answered angrily, glaring at her with glassy scarlet eyes. "Do you know how worried I was? I thought something happened to you!"

"Why do you care so much?" She shouted defensively. Tears started to swell up her eyes once more, as she thought about how much her own parents didn't care this much about her. "This is totally, one-hundred percent my business, so why are _you_ getting so emotional? What gives _you_ the right to care so much? _Why_ _do you care so much_?"

He looked at her; he looked into her swollen emerald eyes, her disheveled hair, her bruised lips from biting down on it too hard, and something inside him just snapped.

"Because I _love you_!" He confessed, half intentionally and half on whim.

"W-_What_?" It was an instant, no more than a few seconds, but her face was in complete horror, before she composed herself and kept it at shocked. Her eyes were filled with various emotions, but the biggest one was fear.

"I said that I love you," he repeated, staring directly into her eyes as he said it.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from his, it was almost hypnotizing. "D-Don't say that," she harshly replied.

"I love you," he challenged.

"I said not to say that!" Her voice grew steadily louder, as she clutched the sleeves of her sweater. "Don't...say that."

"I love you." He ignored her request, determined to get it through her head about what he truly felt towards her.

"STOP!" She screamed, putting her hands on her ears, trying to block out his voice. She directed her eyes to the ground, and refused to look up.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, holding her by her shoulders tightly. He slowly lowered her hands away from her ears.

"I told you I don't believe in love! I'm_ scared_ of love, Soul and you, you of_ all _people _know_ that. Why would you mock me like this? Especially at a time like this?"

"You asked me why I cared, and I simply gave you an answer. That's all." He casually responded back. "I never mocked you because I meant every single word I said. I care because I am in love with you."

"I hate that word, I can't stand it." She stomped her foot, pulling her hair at the sound of the four lettered word. "I told you, there is no such thing as love!"

"There is," he flatly replied back, jamming his hands into his pockets. "Or else how can you explain all these overwhelming emotions I have for you? Whenever I see you with another guy, or even_ think_ about it, jealousy rips through my veins- it's a stronger envy than what I feel about Wes's talents. When I see that you're sad, I get a pained feeling at the top of my chest, and when I see you smile, all my worries fade away. Maybe I'm being the cheesiest and most uncool person someone could ever hope_ not_ to be, but it's fucking true."

Maka held on so tightly to the bottom of her sweater, it started to stretch out two sizes bigger than it should have been. "When I thought that you might have hurt yourself, that if I was even a _second_ late, I might not be able to see you again, my world crashed down. I was so numb with fear that I couldn't breathe properly, my heart just stopped. Time just stopped."

He slowed down a bit, before talking even more rapidly. "Whenever I see you, my heart thumps so hard I feel like it's going to burst out of my chest and it's the most painful but amazing feeling I have ever felt in my life. As much as I want to, I can't even _hate_ you properly for giving me all these confusing and weird feelings because I love you so much."

He tightened his hands into fists, and coldly stared down at her. "Yet you have the fucking guts to call these feelings _fake_? How can you say these feelings don't exist when I feel it _every single fucking day_?" He pounded his chest for dramatic effect. "You have issues and I wish you would have said this to me before I fell in love with you. But I don't regret falling in love with you, because you gave me so much happiness, something that I was positive was unobtainable for me. I was a cold person, but every time I was near you, I found this goofy, foolish side to myself that I never knew it had. I was someone filled with emotion; I teased you for God's sake! Who the fuck teases the girl they like nowadays?"

Tears were gushing down her cheeks, and for a split second, she felt...she felt bliss. Absolute and complete bliss. But then the image of her parents flashed through her mind, and her phobia of love struck once more. It reminded her that she shouldn't be swayed by Soul's sugary words and feelings like love were just myths that didn't and couldn't exist. That the silver haired person in front of her was yet another obstacle she had to overcome that tried to change her well constructed, concrete beliefs of love.

"What you're feeling is not love, it's just a temporary attraction," she finally replied, wiping the tears off her eyes. "Eventually you'll find someone else, just like my father did. Our story is way _too_ similar to my parents'. My mother was a nerdy nobody and my father was that popular person who everyone wanted to be with, just like you and me. Scenarios like ours just don't work out in the end. Maybe in fairy-tails or storybooks, but not in real life Soul. You'll eventually leave me...they all do," she choked out the hurtful words, swallowing hardly. "A-And I wouldn't be able to take that. I'm not as strong as my mother, I wouldn't be able to just abandon all the memories, or live knowing that I've been ditched for someone else. In the end I'll just wilt away, die in the worst way possible- with a shattered heart with no one by my side. You shouldn't have fallen in love with me...you should've stopped yourself!" She yelled, shaking from all the intense emotions coursing through her body.

"If there is a way to stop yourself from loving someone, _please_ tell me because I would _love_ to fucking know." Soul sarcastically replied. "Do you honestly think I haven't tried to repress these feelings?" He asked her with ice to his words. "You really fucking think I haven't tried? I knew it would be a burden to you, but I couldn't stop myself. I fucking couldn't, okay? How can I _stop _myself from feeling what my body chooses to feel? I have already suppressed my feelings so much as it is now, I would have_ crumbled_ if I repressed it anymore!" His voice filled with anger and hurt- hurt that she was rejecting his feelings with such passion.

Behind her frosty eyes, he saw sorrow and regret. He could tell she tried her best to camouflage how she felt, but it was there. He could see it.

"I won't leave you," he promised, breaking the silence that blanketed over them. "I won't ever, ever leave you. Ever. You can try to push me away, but I'll always be here. I can and will wait for you forever."

"You will leave me," she sadly whispered back, shaking her head and ignoring the genuine, raw look in his eyes. She almost believed him. Almost.

"I won't," he told her, before he brought her closer and hugged her tightly. He could smell the familiar scent of sweet citrus in her hair, and it somehow calmed him down. He could feel her hands lightly trying to push him away, but his grasp just got stronger.

"I won't ever leave you Maka," he whispered. She looked up at him, her majestic emerald orbs staring into his ruby red ones. The moon shone down at the two of them, the dead silence of the night creating an atmosphere of serenity and tranquility. Darkness enveloped their two bodies together, and their silhouette drowned in the light that trembled between dusk and twilight.

"Because I love you._ I love you, Maka Albarn._"

* * *

**A/N: I wrote this confession scene in December of last year. Not kidding. xD I'm so glad I finally have it off my hands. I know it was so much writing to read! D: But I hope it was fun and worth the time and effort. :x Also, I updated quickly like I promised to! Yay! I am so determined to finish this story by the end of this month...just watch me. *_* **


	14. The One With The News

**DANKE:** SakuandSyao-CLAMPGirlForever, grayqueen, Anna11107, .Poisoned Scarlet., crazychick1313, JacketsAreCool, Luminous Snow, KirstyKakes, MakaEvans95, Flamin-Massacre, CookieTheif, mietze, Puckabrina NaMi SoMa SasuSaku, aviechan, Mtsr, arkee, Charyii, blackrose4123, CrazyCairn, SolennXSoul, Miyaow, blankdude, xxWARxx, inquiete, kaykay, ss, FaithLoveHope12.

* * *

**Chapter 14:** The One With The News

Maka grinned foolishly to herself, as she replayed the events of yesterday in her head over and over again.

While they were walking back home, hand in hand, she admitted to him, "I don't think I can ever love you as much as you love me." She told it to him lightly, so lightly that if their bodies weren't at such close proximity, he wouldn't have been able to hear her. She hated herself the instant the words came out of her mouth. "Is...is that okay?" She asked unsurely.

"Doesn't matter, I'll make you love me." He had a cocky grin plastered on his face, backed by an expression of perpetual confidence.

It was a memory with words etched so deep in her mind, it was all she could concentrate on. She was thankful that there was a substitute for math that day. It would have been terribly difficult to catch up to the material on her own if she zoned out.

Yesterday's conversation blurred in with the morning's, when he told her that he wouldn't be in school. Apparently, he had to take care of some extremely urgent business which required him to go back to his home. More than anything, Maka thought it was a huge relief. She didn't know how or if she should face him, and not seeing him gave her time to think rationally about his confession.

"Maka?" A shy voice called out from behind. Maka whipped around to see Crona making shaky eye-contact with her.

"Oh, Crona!" Maka happily greeted her friend. "What's up?"

"N-Nothing, it's just that y-you were smiling to yourself the w-whole time. Did something good h-happen?" Crona asked Maka, lowering her eyes to look away from the blonde.

"N-No, it's just-" Maka stopped herself and thought about it over. Maybe what she needed most right now was a second opinion. "W-Well, Crona, if someone told you that they l-_loved_ you, how would you respond?"

"W-What?" Crona managed to stutter out, her face turning completely red and her hands nervously trembling.

"N-No, I just mean it in a completely hypothetical way! I'm not saying I love someone, or that someone confessed to me! I mean, how does that even make sense, who would like me?" Maka laughed nervously, trying to cover up the awkward and uncomfortable pause.

"I-I like you Maka," Crona softly whispered, before she realized what she said and quickly explained. "I mean as a f-friend! So I-I won't be surprised if someone liked you...is what I'm saying. A-as for the whole l-_love_ thing, if someone c-confessed to me, I would first see what my feelings towards that person was. B-By the end of it, if I'm smiling or extremely happy, it's probable that I like the person back."

"O-Oh..." Maka blushed furiously, thinking about how happy she had been whenever she recalled _his_ confession.

"Maka," Crona called her name, causing the flaxen haired girl to look up at Crona in curiosity. "I...I like it most when you smile."

Maka's eyes softened as quickly as they widened, and she gently smiled a pastel painting smile. "Thank...thank you!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka joyfully walked down the empty school hallway. Her silky golden hair bounced cheerfully on the pristine white of her collar, bright emerald eyes crinkled with amusement and pale white hands clutched her books tightly. The conversation she had with Crona strangely lifted her mood greatly. Class was long over, and her club was about to start soon. She mindlessly walked around the corner to where her locker was, when she saw Ox and..._Kim_? She quickly hid behind the wall.

"Ox, how much do you have on you?" The pink haired girl haughtily asked the boy in front of her, putting a hand on her hips.

"Uh..." He took out his wallet and looked inside. "I have twenty dollars on me right now."

She paused, calculated something in her head, and replied, "All right. Hand it to me." She arrogantly stuck out her hand.

Much to Maka's surprise, without a second of hesitation, he handed the money to her. The normally stuck-up, tight Ox was _tamed_? As much as Maka's conscious was telling her to stop eavesdropping, the side of Ox that Maka never saw before was too engaging. Despite being basically robbed of his cash, he looked...he looked extremely _happy_.

"K-Kim, I-" He started, before he was instantly interrupted by said girl.

"Look Ox, I'm running late. I'll see you later...or not, doesn't really matter to me. Bye!" She ran off, ignoring his small protest.

"Ugh..." Maka heard him sigh, as he sluggishly made his way to their club room.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Hey," Maka greeted the depressed Ox. He had his head hidden in his arms in gloom, a posture she was way too familiar with.

"Not today, Albarn. Not today," he shook his head, keeping his head facedown.

"...I saw what happened in the hallway just now," Maka hesitantly admitted. Ox immediately look up at her in embarrassment.

"W...What?" He asked Maka in disbelief. "You _what_?"

"I-I didn't mean to!" Maka argued defensively. "I was just walking to my locker room and you guys were there and I didn't want to interrupt and I-I'm sorry!" She apologized.

Ox glared at her for a few seconds, before retreating back to his original position and responding with a brief, "Ugh."

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, before Maka took the initiative to converse with him. "Ox, don't you feel upset?"

"About what?" He mumbled.

"Well she just stole all your money, for one." Maka frowned, unsure if money wasn't much of a problem for him or if Kim was just _that_ important.

He shrugged. "Those kinds of things don't really matter when it comes to the one you love."

Maka swallowed hard. "D-Do you love her, Ox?"

"What are you, stupid?" He snorted at her ignorance, ignoring her glare. "Isn't it obvious?"

Maka remembered the image of the happy expression Ox had on his face when he was speaking to Kim, and mentally slapped herself for being so dense. How could she_ not_ know? She stared hard at Ox and asked, "But how do you know? Like how did you find out?"

"What are you talking about?" He curiously peered over the ledge of his arms that covered his eyes and gazed at her.

"About Kim...how did you know you were in love with her?" Maka looked at Ox with wide eyes, ready to absorb any useful information he had on the topic.

Ox shrugged once again, a bit suspicious of Maka's suddenly enlarged and watery eyes. "You just know? For example, when I see her my heart starts racing, I feel extremely hot and...I guess I'm just extremely happy when she's talking to me. If you love someone...you just know."

"W-Well what if someone confessed that they love you?" She asked, recalling Soul's bold confession.

He rose an eyebrow. "Maka, are you trying to _confess_ to me?" He gave a dumbfounded Maka a lopsided grin and replied, "Sorry, I like Kim."

"_NO_!" Maka yelled, a little too loudly. People around her tossed her strange looks and Maka could feel her cheeks burning. "I mean no as in a I-don't-like-you-no, not a you-like-Kim-no," she clarified her little outburst.

"I was just kidding, sheesh. Leave it to Albarn to overreact to every little thing," he rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disapproval. "Anyways, getting back to what you said. Just know that it took every ounce of courage that person could ever muster to confess, and that you must be really special to that person to receive a confession."

Maka let the words sink in her head and for the first time it hit her how hard it must have been for Soul to confess. He wasn't someone who expressed his true feelings that well to begin with. To think he made such a bold, clear statement of his emotions was..._courageous_, for lack of a more fitting word.

Maka bit her lip to stop a smile and said, "I guess you aren't as bad as I thought you were, Ox."

He was puzzled, but he decided to just let it go. "All grade competitions aside, you're not so bad yourself, Albarn."

Maka grinned at the somewhat twisted but newfound friendship. Maka replayed the confession from yesterday, slowly remembering each line and how hard it must have been for him to get it out. Then she thought about her own words.

_I don't think I can love you as much as you love me. _

Maka winced at the words she chose to respond to his confession. To say that it was hurtful was watering it down by many folds.

"Hey, Ox?" Maka uncertainly started. "W...What if Kim never likes you back? What if she...never loves you?"

He smiled sadly- a smile that Maka was positive she would and could not ever see on his usually cocky face- and answered her question. "It's fine. I can wait forever for her to come to me. Besides, I shouldn't be too selfish. I still feel like it's a miracle that she's speaking to me again."

"...Again?" Maka pondered at the word. "What do you mean again?"

Ox looked over at the interested sun-bleached blonde besides him and sighed. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Come on!" Maka encouraged him to continue, extremely curious to what his story was. "We're friends now, remember?"

"Well..." He scratched the top of his head, not sure how to start. "Kim and I were friends since elementary school. Our parents were friends, so it was inevitable that we grew up together. We were best friends in elementary and middle school. We didn't really have a lot of other friends, but I was perfectly fine and content with it. I thought she was too...but when we came to high school, everything changed."

"How so?"

Ox shrugged nonchalantly. "She found a new group of people, spent more and more time with all her new friends. I got terribly jealous and...well, one day I unintentionally said something horribly mean to her."

"What?" Maka wondered, finding all this new information about Kim fascinating.

"Well, I confronted her and she said I sounded ridiculous. She told me she would always be my friend and that she really loves me, but I know she just meant it as a friend. I was...I don't know, I was particularly ticked off that day and I was so angry and upset - angry and upset that she didn't like me the same way I liked her - so I just told her to piss off."

"You...you _what_?" Maka widened her eyes in horror. "A girl told you she loves you and you...y-you told her to _piss off_?"

"She meant it as a brotherly-sisterly way," Ox dismissed Maka's statement, his eyes darkening. "Besides, it gets worse. I told her that she was just like the rest of them, those annoying high school clique girls, and that she's become a total bitch. I told her instead of wasting her time with me, she should go off and get together with someone who matches her, like Soul."

"Wow Ox, that's just messed up."

"I know, okay?" He snapped, tightening his fists. "I didn't mean a word of what I said, I was just...I don't know. I wasn't thinking properly that day."

"So what exactly did she say after you told her those hurtful words?" Maka chose her words carefully.

"Well, for one, I'll never forget the look in her eyes...it was filled with so much hurt and betrayal. I immediately regretted saying everything, but it was too late. The hurt in her eyes lasted for only a split second, before they turned hard and cold. I still remember the exact words she said..."

_Fine. If that's how you feel, maybe I just will get with Soul. Never, ever speak to me again or even pretend to know me. Our friendship ends here. _

Ox cringed at the memory. He initially planned to keep his past with Kim hidden away for good but something about Maka encouraged him to let everything out - everything he's bottled away since the incident three years ago.

"But you and Kim are now talking again! She was even asking you for money and stuff," Maka pointed out, subtly questioning how they patched things up.

"Well, due to some miracle we got paired up for the flour baby project together, remember? We were forced to talk and well...I guess we just made up that way. We never talked about what happened between us during that time though- it was like we just met. It was then that I realized things will never really be the same. It saddens me to the point of depression, but for now I'm just happy to be in her presence." Maka caught the sad glint in his eye.

"You really love her a lot, don't you?" Maka smiled at his deep feelings.

"Yeah, yeah I do." He confidentially said. "Maybe I'm overanalyzing, but I feel that the way she's acting right now- whether it's chasing after Soul or acting like a spoiled brat in front her little group of friends- is because of me. She wasn't like that before, even when she was hanging out with a new crowd. She was seriously the sweetest person anyone could ever hope to meet. Her dream was to become a nurse to heal people who are sick, she wouldn't hurt an ant. Please don't think badly of her, despite her frequently rash and rude actions." Ox begged Maka.

Maka nodded, signifying that she understood. All her high school life, Maka was positive Kim was just a baseless, tasteless and senseless girl, but after the conversation with Ox she was seriously starting to form completely new opinions.

The bell rang at that moment, officially ending the club period. Maka grabbed her books and started to head out the door but stopped and turned back. Something needed to be done.

"Ox - _everything_ you told me." Maka had a determined look in her clear emerald orbs. He looked at Maka to see the determination in her eyes, and became bewildered. "Everything you told me just now- how you regret everything that happened, how you feel about her, how you didn't mean anything you said- tell it to her. Tell her those exact words and apologize! Apologize like there's no tomorrow."

"W-What?"

"Unless you want to live the rest of your life in regret, go apologize." Maka repeated. "It's already late, but if she's half as sweet as the girl you described to me, she'll understand and she'll forgive you. So...so go apologize and explain everything to her."

"B-But Maka, I-"

"Just_ go_." Maka pushed him out the door in encouragement. "_Now_! Forget the past, screw the future, disregard everything but the _present_. Anything can be yours. You can do _anything_, as long as you strive hard enough for it, so _go_! I'm sure she's been waiting for you as long as you have been for her."

"B-But." He hesitated, not used to executing such rash actions.

"Just go, Ox. She's waiting," Maka smiled brightly and it was such a serene and pure smile, his heart skipped a beat.

"O...Okay," he finally agreed, somehow energized by Maka's words to take action. "Oh, but before I go - what are _you _waiting for? Soul's confessed to you, didn't he? It's blatantly obvious you like him too, so why aren't you going for it?"

"W-_What_?" Maka sputtered, as her face and ears reddened. "W-Who told you that?...And no I don't!"

"Nobody, I could easily tell by the conversation we had just now- when you kept asking about confessions and love- that Soul confessed to you. Try to be a little more subtle next time, yeah?" Ox shook his head. "And yeah you do, you idiot."

"_What_? !" Maka slit her eyes in anger. "I take back everything I said! You are just as bad as I thought you were...and I _don't_!"

"Denial's always the first stage, Albarn!" Ox carelessly brushed past her angered remarks, and walked towards the door. "Anyways, thanks for the prep talk! Hopefully the next time we see each other, you'll have more sense in that tiny head of yours."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Ugh...what would that stupid Ox know anyways?" Maka grumbled to herself, as she walked down the street to her apartment. It was around the evening now and the blazing sun set fire to the clouds, causing the whole sky to turn a smoothly blended hue of orange, yellow and red. As she walked past the quaint neighborhood stores and rowdy cars driving down the street, she thought more and more about everyone's words.

What Ox had said wasn't _completely_ unreasonable.

Maka pursed her lips at the thought, and tightened the grip she had on her books. Weird and foreign feelings started to take over her.

She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

"Yo, Maka!" She heard a familiar voice call out to her. She promptly turned around to see an overly hyper blue haired boy walk towards her. He had a lollipop stuck in his mouth and he was energetically waving his hands at her.

"Black Star?" She broadened her eyes at his unexpected appearance. "What are you doing here? You don't live anywhere near this neighborhood."

"Yeah, I had to take care of something." He ominously stated, looking far off to the side. "Anyways, how are you doing? Everything's a bit saddening, huh?"

"What is?" Maka asked, perplexed by his words.

"About Soul." Black Star bluntly replied, not noticing her confusion.

"O-_Oh_." Maka flushed, positive he was talking about the confession. "It's more surprising than anything, really."

"Yeah, I guess. You're surprisingly taking it well," Black Star shrugged. "I have to admit, thinking I'd barely see that bastard again after three weeks isn't the greatest feeling."

"Wait, _what_?" Maka asked him, her face crumpling in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about his move," Black Star stared at Maka in confusion at her confusion.

"W-What move? Black Star, what the hell are you talking about?" Maka asked, fear rising up her chest.

"I thought you knew? Tsubaki didn't tell you?" Maka shook her head slowly, unsure if she wanted him to continue. "Soul got accepted to some prestigious music college or another overseas. He got his acceptance letter a while back, like a month ago. I heard he went home today to arrange the final details, didn't you know?"

Maka shook her head once more, her mouth dry of words. She felt her legs go weak and somehow she felt detached from the world.

"Maka, Soul's moving to Europe in three weeks." She dropped the books that were once clutched tightly in her hands. "Soul's leaving," Black Star straightforwardly said, hammering in the final detail she didn't want to hear.

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**A/N: I've been nonstop watching The Office for a week now, and I finally finished watching all seasons. I just got to say...I CRIED SO MUCH WHEN MICHAEL LEFT! He can't do that! How can he do that? ! He WAS the office! It's like having the Tyra Show without Tyra! You just can't do that! D: I really wish Steve Carell would come back, the show's just not going to be the same without him. :'( **

**Anywayzzz, on a brighter note, I'm almost done with this! :D Only three more chapters to go- I shortened it! It's going to end at chapter 17. :3 Now everyone knows what the deal with Kim is! Also, a few chapters back(chapter 11), Soul was speaking with his dad and he was like "Are you serious?" He was talking about his acceptance letter. His acceptance letter came to his home, and that's why his father called him in that day. He was surprised he got accepted. xD That's basically what's happening in a nutshell. **

**Oh, and for the person who wondered, Liz and Patty come out in the last chapter. :'O**


	15. The One With The Dreams

**GRACIAS:** xxWARxx, inquiete, shanagi95, arkee, JacketsAreCool, FaithLoveHope12, Luminous Snow, mabello, Flamin-Massacre, crazychick1313, DiamondintheDark, aviechan, mietze, TenshiMeister, AliceUnknown, blackrose4123, grayqueen, Mtsr, backstar, GrossGirl18, DanniWasHere, ZombieChick422, kaykay. **vvv**

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**Chapter 15:** The One With The Dreams

Maka blankly stared at the television screen in front of her. Despite it being set on the loudest volume, she couldn't hear anything. Nothing would pass through her ears, or even her eyes for that matter. All the colors were distorted and on a grayscale. She didn't even notice the door unlocking, or a voice calling out to her. It was only when he came up to her and shook her lightly in concern, that she was brought back to the real world.

"Woah Maka, you're taking zoning out to a whole new level," he teased. "Why is the television on so loud? I could hear it from the hallway."

Maka mumbled something incoherent back. He looked at her pale face quizzically and shut the loud electronic off.

"What did you say?" He asked her to repeat her words again.

"You're leaving." She replied in a tiny voice. There was no hesitation or even quivering in her voice. It was matter-of-fact, and neutral. "You're leaving because you got into a music school overseas."

"Where did you hear that?" He demanded, his expression immediately turning stiff. "Who told you that? It's not true, Maka."

"So you didn't get into a school in Europe?"

"W-Well, I did, but -" He stumbled to find the right words.

"I knew it," she angrily said, glaring at him. "I knew you were going to leave me, you're just like everyone else. You _liar_."

"Wait, just listen," he reasoned, prepared to explain everything.

"I don't want to," she snarled, covering her ears with her hands. "All you do is sprout out lies! I can't believe I actually...I actually _believed_ in you."

"Maka, just listen!" He shouted, starting to get aggravated by her stubbornness. "I'm_ not _leaving. I went home the other day to decline the offer."

"You...you _what_?" She confusedly asked, staring deep into his clear ruby eyes.

"I rejected the offer, Maka. You don't have to worry about anything because I'm not leaving you," he reassured her, looking directly into her eyes as he said those words.

"B-But I thought-" She stuttered, doubtful that he was telling the truth.

"Well you thought wrong." He interrupted her before she could sprout any untrue ideas of his leaving.

"S-So you're not leaving?" She asked him once again, stuffing her shaking hands inside her sweater pocket. "You're staying right here?"

"I'm staying right here." He grinned, and somehow it had such an affect that all her worries washed away. "Geez,_ stupid_!" He lightly flicked her forehead with his fingers affectionately. "Don't even entertain ideas like that!"

"O-Okay." Maka nodded her head in agreement, finding herself somehow smiling once again.

"Also, come somewhere with me this Saturday," he eagerly asked her. "I want to show you something."

"What?" She asked, widening her eyes in curiosity.

"It's a surprise." He smirked, his sharp jaws clearly visible. "Just be sure to have no other plans that day."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Tsubaki!" Maka waved frantically, trying to be noticed by her black haired friend among the sea of people.

"Maka!" She waved back, walking towards the blonde haired girl. When they somehow managed to reach each other, Tsubaki decided the crowd was too much. "Let's go somewhere else to talk!"

"Okay!" Maka agreed. She looked around the street and pointed to a tiny coffee shop. "How about there?"

Tsubaki nodded in approval and they both headed towards the cafe. When they were seated and comfortable, Maka looked up at Tsubaki expectantly.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Maka asked her friend, who suddenly grew quiet.

"Uhm..." Tsubaki hesitantly started, avoiding all eye contact. "It's something very unpleasant about...Soul that you probably don't want to hear. B-But you have the right to know...no, it's something you deserve to know."

Maka stared at her overly nervous friend and sighed. "Tsubaki, if this is about Soul's move, everything's fine."

"W-What?" She widened her dusky blue eyes in shock. "You knew?"

Maka nodded, and shrugged in ambivalence. "Soul's not really moving, he went to his house yesterday to reject the offer. He's staying right here."

"Oh..." Tsubaki lowered her eyes and played with the rim of her coffee cup. "Black Star was right..." She softly whispered to herself.

"What?" Maka slit her eyes at her friend's downcast eyes. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing..." Tsubaki bit her lip, stirring her drink with a metal spoon. She refused to look directly at Maka.

"You're acting strange!" Maka frowned. "You and I are friends Tsubaki, you can tell me whatever it is you are thinking."

Tsubaki flickered her eyes back and forth at Maka and her coffee cup, before sighing in defeat. "To...to be perfectly honest Maka, I'll speak from two points of view. As your friend's point of view, I'm really happy for you. You finally found happiness, and no one has the right to take that away from you...including me."

Maka slowly nodded her head, and encouraged her to continue.

"But as Soul's friend's point of view, I don't think it's right. He finally found a path to fulfill his dreams, and no one has the right to take that away from him..." Tsubaki paused dramatically for a few seconds. "...including you."

"But I'm not taking his dream away from him!" Maka protested, feeling overwhelming guilt take over. "I didn't tell him anything, he just decided to reject the offer on his own. You can go ask him, I had nothing to do with his decision!"

"Maka, if it isn't for you, what reason does he have to stay here?" Tsubaki gently asked. "Black Star said becoming a famous musician has always been his dream, and he's giving that up because he doesn't want to leave you."

"No one asked him to give it up," Maka defensively pointed out. "Besides, he can go to a school here! If he's so great at playing that he can get into such an elite school, I'm sure he got into other schools closer to where we are!"

Tsubaki shook her head sadly. "I thought the same thing, but according to Black Star he only applied to schools overseas. He applied to colleges before he met you, when all he could think about was getting as far away from his broken family as he possibly could. He was planning on leaving this place for good...but then you came along and changed everything."

"T-Then he could just wait a year, can't he?" Maka frantically tried to find a loophole in Tsubaki's statements. "He can apply to schools here after taking a year off, can't he?"

"...Maka, truthfully speaking, would you yourself want to take a whole year off from school?" Tsubaki asked her in the nicest way she could. "Besides, the school Soul got into basically guarantees their students will become successful...what will you do if his musical career sinks just because he didn't take this once-in-a-lifetime chance?"

"Tsubaki, you're my friend." Maka stated, feeling tears welling up. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side? Even if I make stupid decisions, shouldn't you blind me to the truth and say whatever makes me happy, even if it's a lie?"

"Maka, I'm saying this because I care," Tsubaki argued, hopelessly looking at her friend in the eye. "I thought about it, and no matter how Soul is infatuated with you now, he's someday going to blame you for this. He's going to always get angry at _you_ for ruining his dreams and I won't bear to see you take blame."

"Soul's not like that!" Maka confidentially replied. "Soul would never do that!"

"That's what you say now," Tsubaki struggled to say the next hurtful few words. "Wake up from your fantasy, Maka. This is reality. Think about what's best for the both of you..._please_."

"So you're basically saying I should let him go?" Maka bluntly said, holding in her tears.

"All I'm saying is that you should really think deep about it." Tsubaki deftly avoided the question. "I don't know about anything else, but all I want is for you to be happy...and this is the complete, whole truth."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka stared into the old photograph, the one where the rim was torn apart and the ink was starting to fade. It was one of the few pictures she had of her father and herself. She played with it in her hand, as the words Tsubaki had said replayed over and over again in her head.

What Tsubaki told her made sense- it was very logical and reasonable. Maka knew Tsubaki meant no harm by her words, and meant it only with the purest intentions, but it still _hurt; _being slapped of reality by her best friend was painful.

Sure, Maka knew she was being selfish. She was being selfish, unreasonable, stubborn and stupid; she understood at least that much.

Tsubaki probably realized that with the right words, Maka would be convinced to let Soul go. She was almost right. But what Tsubaki didn't realize was that Maka had changed. She was tired. She was so, so_ tired_. She was tired of giving things up, pretending to be happy and putting a smile on her face. She was seriously _so_ tired. She already gave up her parents, her past and basically everything that gave her happiness. How much more did she have to give up until life would be satisfied and would leave her alone? At this point, it didn't matter about anyone else's future. All she wanted to do now was care about her own future, her own happiness.

Maka smiled sadly at the photograph she held in her hand before placing it back in-between the pages of a book.

Not this time. She wasn't going to let fate win over her happiness, at least not this time.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"There, there." Kid rolled his eyes, patting Tsubaki's hunched up shoulders. "It's okay."

"But it's not!" She sadly cried, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I bet you Maka hates me now!"

"Maka would never hate you," Kid dismissed her worries. "Besides, what you did was right."

"R-Really?" Tsubaki looked up at her symmetrically-obsessed friend with watery eyes. "You really think it was the right way of approaching things?"

"Yeah, I do." He sternly replied. "Someone had to tell her the truth, you did well. Although...when you told me the whole conversation, I have to admit you sounded uncharacteristically strong. Mean, even."

"I did sound mean, didn't I?" Tsubaki agreed in agony. "I tried to do my best because Black Star had so strongly pleaded me to speak to Maka...I didn't realize how much I must've hurt her!"

"Wait, _Black Star_ is the one who asked you to speak with her?" Kid asked in disbelief. "Why couldn't he just talk to Maka himself? Or better yet, why couldn't he just put some sense into his stupid white haired friend instead? If anyone needs a talk about reality, it's that asymmetrical music freak."

"Black Star said he already tried to speak to Soul about it, but he completely ignored him...and since Black Star isn't really close with Maka..."

"So he basically gave you all the dirty work?" Kid squinted his honey colored eyes.

"N-No, I mean, I don't mind!" Tsubaki immediately defended him. "It was something that had to be done!"

"I would never be able to understand how a girl of such class such as yourself could possibly like such a disorderly person like him." Kid shook his head in disapproval, and left a bewildered and very red Tsubaki alone in her room to slowly evaluate his words.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"W-Where are you taking me?" Maka asked nervously, as she tried to peel off the blindfold on top of her eyes. She could tell he brought her at the beach from the salty smell of the waves and the cool sand she walked on. What she didn't understand was what could possibly be on the beach that he wanted her to see so late at night on a Saturday.

"Okay, you can take off the blind now!" He told her excitedly, letting go of her hand. She immediately pulled it off and let her eyes properly adjust. When they had clear vision again, she gasped.

Maka's eyes glinted at the sight in front of her, the scenery looking more like something out of a movie than real life.

"Wha- _how_?" Her eyes grew bigger, as she stared at the glossy black piano in front of her. It wasn't the reflection of the brilliant moon on the shine of the sleek piano that amazed her. It wasn't even the way Soul had dressed formally once _again_, complete with a cherry silk tie and gelled hair that made her eyes gawk in wonder.

It was the fact that there was a _piano_ in the middle of a _beach_, snugly placed in the sand.

"There was a movie shoot for the past week," he shrugged, trying his best to seem cool about the whole thing. "They're removing the piano tomorrow. Remember when I promised I'd play the piano for you when the time was right, like a month ago? Well, what better time than right now, right here?"

"Are you serious?" Maka breathed out, her eyes still drinking in the magic of the picturesque vision in front of her.

"I don't joke around when it comes to music," he absentmindedly said. However, the words started to eat at Maka. He interrupted her chain of thoughts when he continued, "Make yourself as comfortable as you can while you listen to an original piece by _the_ Soul Eater Evans."

She happily obeyed, feeling all her worries evaporate with each word and action of his. Stretching out her legs, which looked very pale as the liquid silver of the moon above spilled into a puddle around her form and onto the sand, she turned her head towards his direction. Her fingers dug in the soft coolness of the sand, and she allowed her eyes to flicker towards the ocean. The ocean was like a photo, an undulating black mass with diamond sparkles of light created by the reflection of the stars. It was a beautiful night, she realized, staring into the nothingness of the oceanic abyss. It was calm.

When he saw that she was content and relaxed, he began to softly play a melody that Maka could only describe as nostalgic. The sound of his playing was beautiful, and as musically challenged as she was, she could still tell that he had a tremendous amount of talent.

His playing gradually started to get faster and deeper, so much so that it seemed even the sound wasn't able to catch up with his notes. With every key he pressed down on, she felt more and more weak. Looking at him playing the piano was like gazing into a mirror on a waning moon night: chilling and mesmerizing.

As his frantic playing continued, something in Maka changed. It was an irreversible change - something that she couldn't back out of to even if she desperately tried to: she came to terms with the truth.

She in no way had _any_ right to take away _anyone's_ dreams. Especially not one as spectacular and beautiful as his. She thought she could live with being selfish, to sacrifice others for the sake of her own benefit without any guilty feeling. But she was wrong. Tsubaki was wrong. The person who would hate her or blame her the most for taking away his dreams wouldn't be him- it would be herself.

"What did you think?" He grinned manically, waking her up from her never-ending spiral of thoughts. It was then that she realized he had stopped playing.

"...It was indescribable." She replied, talking more to herself than answering his question.

"That good, huh?" He smirked, stretching his arms out in front of him.

"I don't think I can do it anymore." She smiled sadly, and looked up at his puzzled face. "We're done."

"What?" He asked, positively confused to what was going on. Was it something he said?

"We're done," she repeated. "Whatever we had, whatever it was called, it's done. We're done."

"Does this have to do with the school?" He worriedly asked, trying to grasp the situation. "I'm not going to go, I don't _want_ to go. I refuse to go."

"No, you better go." She firmly said, looking straight at him with cold green eyes. "If you don't, I will seriously never speak or even look at you ever again. You're going to go and you're going to achieve your dreams, like how it was supposed to be before you met me."

"Maka, I don't -"

"Don't message me again." She interrupted him before he could convince her to change her mind. She could feel hot tears forming at the tip of her eyes, and her heart wrenched. She always hated overly dramatic parting scenes, but now she realized that they were never on purpose, they were unavoidable. "Don't text me, don't write to me, don't call me, don't even pretend you know me. It's over. Everything's over."

And with that, the two silhouettes that were sketched under the radiance of the moon reduced to one.

* * *

**A/N: I cut 7 inches of my hair off. D: Now it's really short and I dyed it brownish, but you can only tell under the sunlight. :P I look so different lol. But my friend told me that the best way to forget about the past and start anew is to change your appearance, so I went and did exactly that. :3 ****I'm so sick of being sad for reasons that aren't even worth it. **I'm just going to forget everything that troubled me and have myself an awesome time in college. I hope I only meet awesome people and make awesome memories haha. 

**Anyways, two more chapters to go! :D I already started the last chapter (which is turning out to be incredibly long) so I'm excited! Finally it's coming to an end. :'D**


	16. The One With The Promise

**Dedicated to: **AliceUnknown, blankdude, .Poisoned Scarlet., inquiete, blackrose4123, Cyaat21, KirstyKakes, grayqueen, CookieTheif, Mtsr, kaykay, Slayers64, Luminous Snow, mietze, Flamin-Massacre, CherriiBee216, Klara2012zimdib, JacketsAreCool, Alik Takeda, arkee, Better Than Waffles.

* * *

**Chapter 16:** The One With The Promise

It was a whole month.

Actually, it was thirty days, twelve hours, and fifty-two minutes to be_ exact_; but who was counting?

She never knew it would be so difficult to avoid_ him_. Everywhere she went, there were traces of him left behind. It was painful to walk through the school hallways now, since every single little thing reminded her of him. It was hard to eat apples, because the rinds were too thick- thicker than she thought they were before she stopped eating them because _he_ was allergic to them. Cake tasted bitter, rice krispies tasted like rocks. Her neck felt empty due to the lack of silver jewelry, which miraculously did not give her any rashes despite her silver allergy. Music had no sound no matter how loudly she boosted the volume up. The picture in her living room was long taken down, but it still lurked in the corner behind her bookshelf. It was still there_...he was still there. _

She seriously did not think his absence would affect her to this extreme. She figured that she lived perfectly fine without him for years, so how could his measly presence make a big impact on her? She was sure that she could function perfectly fine without him and he wouldn't impact her life at all.

But she was wrong. She was completely, utterly, and totally wrong. He was a _huge _impact in her life. Actually, that was an understatement. It would have been more accurate to say that he changed her life completely. Nothing would ever be the same.

Before, she was absolutely positive she could live alone in the dark loneliness. She didn't really need anyone besides her, the darkness always welcomed her. But now it was different. Now she was spoiled with the pleasure of basking under the sunlight of company, and the thought of being alone just seemed too cruel now, too scary.

It was tempting. It was way, way too tempting to just go back and tell him not to leave. To tell him that she wants to take back all her words, and to please stay with her. However, she knew that it she would never gain enough courage to actually do it. He had a promising future, and how would she ever be able to forgive herself for ruining it for him? She had no right.

He came to try to talk to her numerous times, but day after day she ignored him. He would stay in front of her apartment door for hours, sometimes spent the whole night just waiting, but she never caved in. She knew that once she had a proper conversation with him, she would break down and then he would never leave. She would spend the rest of her life regretting ruining his bright future.

She did remember, however, that he caught her alone one day walking back home. Tsubaki said she had an appointment, and Kid said he had urgent matters to take care of, so they weren't able to walk home with her. They weren't able to block him from her; although, Maka somehow knew they made those plans on purpose so Soul would be able to talk to her.

He asked her if she really wanted him to leave, if she really did not feel anything towards him: were they really over? He wanted to confirm some facts. She confirmed them all for him by repeated the words "yes" three times over.

After then, he stopped trying. He would avoid her as much as she avoided him, and it _killed_ her. Something inside her _cracked_, but she ignored it and tried her best to move on. She put on a fake smile and laughed fake laughs. She did her best to forget him.

Her plans didn't really work out that well. Sometimes, she would try to sneeze on purpose, just so she would be forced to talk to him. She would be able to have an excuse to give to herself for communicating with him. She succeeded in forcefully sneezing, but nothing happened. The curse, or whatever it was, expired. The magic was gone. It was really over.

One day, she got a letter of her own in the mail. It told her that she got accepted into one of the most prestigious colleges in the whole country. What should have been a joyous occasion seemed rather lukewarm, at best, to her. But it did serve as a great distraction and something to concentrate on. She spent the rest of her time, energy, and thoughts on her education. Just like that, a whole month passed by and before she knew it, _the_ day came.

She knew the day would come, but she never knew it would come so quickly. She woke up, everything still seeming so unreal, until it finally hit her.

Today was the day he was going to leave.

He was really going to leave. He was really going to leave without her.

_What time was he supposed to leave again?_

Maka shook the question off her mind, ticked off that the first thing she thought about when she woke up was_ him_. She went to the bathroom to wash up and finish the summer assignments her college required her to do.

"Today is just another day, today is just another day." She chanted to herself, tightly gripping the hem of her shirt. "Don't be wavered, today is just another day."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Black Star, isn't Soul leaving today?" Tsubaki worriedly asked the blue haired boy, who was slouched comfortably in a beanbag chair.

"Yeah, he is." He confirmed, looking out the window of her room.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Tsubaki lowered her eyes, still vividly remembering the conversation she had with Maka a month ago. Ever since then, Maka was like a walking zombie; she barely ate or spoke. "Maka...Maka still refuses to speak to Soul. I feel so terrible about everything...I feel like it was all my fault."

"It wasn't your fault," Black Star reassured her, looking into her eyes. "If anything, it was my fault. I would have never thought that Maka would break if off with Soul completely. I just thought she would send him off and when he finished his studies, they could get back together. I...I fucked up, didn't I?"

"I know Maka loves Soul," Tsubaki softly said to herself, avoiding the question she didn't want to answer truthfully. "Black Star, it's too sad if he just leaves like this. I...I really thought they were going to make up...but a whole month passed and they're still not talking. We need to do something. I'll try to speak with Maka so..."

"All right," Black Star agreed, immediately catching on to what Tsubaki said. "I'll try to talk to Soul."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Maka read the same line over for what seemed like the hundredth time. She broke the tip of her pencil and angrily threw it across the room. She couldn't _concentrate_. She was about to go outside to clear her mind up and breathe in some fresh air when the doorbell rang.

Her heart skipped a beat. Was it..._him_?

She hurriedly walked over to her door and anxiously opened the door, fully expecting to see the silver haired teenager with striking ruby red eyes standing there to tell her goodbye.

Instead, a very familiar face with curly blonde hair and grassy forest green eyes greeted her with a smile.

"M-Ms. Nablar?" Maka hesitantly asked, wondering if it really was her old teacher- the teacher who was the start of _everything_- in front of her.

"It's nice to see you again," she nodded, confirming her identity.

"B-But w-what are you doing here?" Maka stuttered in surprise. She had no idea what was going on anymore. In the past, over and over again Maka rehearsed what she would say to her teacher if they happened to meet again, but she never thought the day would actually come. In her head, she had a million questions to ask her teacher who mysteriously disappeared almost a whole year ago, but no words would come out of her mouth.

"I'm...I'm here to try to pay you back for everything I've done to you." She smiled sadly in an apologetic manner, jumbling her fingers together anxiously.

"W-What do you mean?" Maka asked her elaborate. "Why are you even here? Ms. Nablar, I don't -"

"I'm not Ms. Nablar." The blonde teacher shook her head slowly. She struggled with her next words. "Maka, 'Nablar' is just an anagram...of 'Albarn.' I am your mother, Maka."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"So that's just it?" Black Star asked irritably, as he watched his friend absentmindedly packing up his suitcase. "That's just it? It's completely over?"

Soul didn't reply, but continued to pack his bags.

"She's just going to stop contact with you forever? This whole year meant nothing to her?" The blue haired boy continued, despite his friend's lack of response. "And you're just going to take that? You're just going to move to Europe, and-"

"Holy shit, shut the _fuck _up!" Soul finally responded, interrupting his friend's line of questioning. He stopped packing to look angrily up at Black Star. "Isn't this exactly what _you _wanted?_ You_ kept trying to convince me to go, no matter what I told you. Now that I'm going, you're complaining? What the fuck do you want me to do?"

"It's true I wanted you to go, but not like_ this_." Black Star snarled back, looking just as agitated as Soul did. "You're half _dead_. There's no point in going away if you're going to act like a zombie there too! I didn't actually think Maka would think of cutting all connections with you!"

"You never _think_, period." Soul retorted back, holding back the urge to shout. "If I leave, I lose her. If I stay, I lose her. I did everything I can but she won't fucking listen to me! I can't do anything, Black Star! _Nothing_! We're done."

"So it's really just over." Black Star flatly said, more of a statement than a question. "You leave in five hours while she stays here and you both live your lives like nothing ever happened. Awesome."

"Just fuck off Black Star," Soul growled, as he resumed packing up his bags. "If her mind is set on getting rid of me, then maybe that really is the best. I didn't want to acknowledge it, but I gave her my all and she never returned those feelings...not even half of those feelings. I was rejected, and that's that. Maybe I'll recover one day, maybe I won't. All I know now is that I should get away from here as far and fast as possible."

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"W...W..._What_?" Maka widened her eyes, as she racked her brain to find something to say. She had so much to say, so much to _ask_, but her mouth went dry of words.

"I know you're surprised, and I'm sorry to just barge in out of nowhere. But...I figured it's finally time to tell you the truth," the woman, who suddenly seemed like a complete stranger to Maka confessed. "Can I come in?"

"I...I..." Maka mentally cursed herself for not being able to finish full sentences anymore. "I-I y-yes! Y-Yes, come in." Maka opened the door for her, her hands shaking on the door knob.

"Thank you," the woman nodded, walking in. She sat down on the sofa and looked up at the sudden silence. She saw Maka frozen in her position at the door and took a deep breath in. "Maka, I know you're in shock, but there's not much time left. Please come here, I really need to speak with you. It's urgent."

Maka immediately paralyzed with fear when she heard that there was not much time left and reluctantly sat across from the older blonde woman.

"The reason I came here was to...explain everything. So listen carefully, Maka. I know you have a lot of questions to ask me, but let me just explain myself before I answer any of your questions. Is that all right with you?"

Maka bobbed her head up and down in response.

"All right, where to start. Well, first of all, my name is Kami and I'm an astronomer. I'm not sure how much your father told you about me, but that's my occupation. I study the stars."

"Dad did tell me that," Maka quietly told her.

"He did?" The blonde half-smiled. "Well, that's just a gist of what I do. One day, while we- my fellow astronomer and I- were out observing the stars around the Northern Lights, a shooting star fell down. It fell down dangerously close to where we are, and we were able to see the fallen meteoroid. It left a golden substance...one that you're probably familiar with."

"So _that_ was what it was!" Maka opened her mouth in surprise. "B-But how? I don't get how a powder made from a meteoroid can make people switch bodies! T-That's so..._cool_!"

"It's fascinating, isn't it?" Kami grinned at her daughter's excitement. "It's actually a top secret substance right now. They don't want people switching bodies all over the place, you know."

"But how did you find out about what it can do and how to cure it? You even left us that poem, remember?" Maka reminded her.

"We experimented a lot," Kami grinned mischievously. "But that's beside the point. When I left you and your father, I did regret it a lot. To be honest, I really wanted to pursue my career. Your father was always...holding me back. I really did love you two...I really, really did. You have to believe me."

Maka bit her lip, hesitant to reply. "Then...then why did you leave us?"

"Like I said, I really wanted to pursue my career," the blonde woman smiled sadly, her emerald eyes lowering. "I knew what kind of effect it would have on you, growing up without a mother, but I selfishly went for it anyways. I know you can't forgive me now, Maka, but I hope you will eventually."

Maka nodded slowly as she replied, "I'll...I'll try."

"Thanks," Kami said, grateful that her daughter was willing to hear her out. "I did leave you Maka, but I always watched over you from afar. When I left, I swore to myself that I wouldn't come back until I made a huge discovery. I wanted to become someone successful, someone you could look up to. It was tempting- so, so tempting to just come back but I held back. I stopped myself from seeing you numerous times. I never thought the day would come, but it finally did- the day we were going to meet. After the discovery of the golden powder, I decided I would be worthy of seeing you again. I went to your school, where they accepted me as a teacher, and that's when I saw you."

"B-But then you just disappeared," Maka pointed out. "You just...gave us that assignment and then...vanished."

"That wasn't my intention," Kami admitted, biting down her lip. Maka now knew where she got the habit of biting down her lip from. "Truthfully, when I first saw you, you were..._dead_. You always looked so sad and lonely; you always sat in that desk alone and never spoke to anyone. It was then that I realized I wouldn't be able to come back to you- I wouldn't be able to heal you."

"Did I...did I really act like that?" Maka dulled her eyes, finding it hard to remember the times before _him_.

"That's why I decided to create the flour baby project. Everything was planned by me," Kami revealed. "It was to help heal you."

"Everything was...planned?" Maka repeated, remembering the whole chain of events that happened that day. "Even the partners...?"

Kami nodded her head.

"Why...?" Maka slowly asked. "Why did you choose...why did you choose Soul?"

"I knew you would ask me that," Kami smiled, eager to tell her daughter the truth about her past. "You probably don't remember and he probably doesn't either, but you guys knew each other when you were young. You guys were very close friends. Did you happen to see the scar on Soul's chest?"

Maka nodded, blushing furiously; now her mom would think she was some kind of pervert.

"Well, he got the scar because he protected you from a huge dog." Kami told Maka, causing Maka to jump up from her seat.

"_Wait._" Maka stopped her mother from speaking further, the information she was given still digesting. "The little girl that Soul protected and got the scar from...was_ me_?"

"Yes, it was you." The flaxen haired woman confirmed. "I still remember it like yesterday; he was gushing out blood and we had to take him to the hospital because his father wouldn't. After Soul healed, Spirit decided to move away from here because he didn't want accidents like that happening again. You were very young and it was a traumatic incident, so you probably unconsciously blocked it out of your memories."

"Wow..." Maka breathed out, finding it hard to take all of the new information in all at once. "So that was the reason you paired us up together?"

"Well, that and because Soul was probably the one who best understood you." Kami explained. "I always saw you with Tsubaki and Kid, but you never looked happy. It was like you were...empty. I realized it must have been because you grew up without motherly and fatherly figures. I know that Soul's mother died when he was born and Soul's father...is hell itself, so you were both under the same situation. I believed that you guys could heal each other's wounds, especially since both of you experienced it and know how it feels."

"...But it's over now." Maka said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "M-Mom, he's leaving today. He's leaving today in an hour and he won't be back for a long, long time. By then, he probably would've forgotten about me and would have moved on...it's all over."

"Maka," Kami gently called out to her daughter, who looked up with tears in eyes. "Do you love him, Maka?"

"I...I don't know," Maka replied, tears streaming down her face.

"Maka, you do know." Kami whispered, softly wiping the tears that fell down her daughter's pale face. "I decided to come here and finally meet you because I knew Soul was leaving. Maka, don't let what we - your father and I - did affect your future. We know we showed you a warped, messed up love, but I wholeheartedly believe that Soul healed you. Just think deep into your heart Maka, and you'll find the answer."

Maka closed her eyes and thought about all the time she spent with him. She could only think of fond memories, happiness and smiles. It was warm. Then she thought about the month she spent without him, how hollow, empty, and _bleak_ it was. She felt a chill shiver down her spine.

"I probably...I probably do l-love him." Maka finally found to courage to admit to herself. Suddenly, as if a hundred pounds were lifted off of her, she felt free. A huge burden disappeared from her heart.

"Of course you do, or why else would the powder's effect disappear?" Kami grinned knowingly.

"What do you mean?" Maka widened her eyes, wiping the last few tears on her face dry.

"You're not switching bodies with him anymore, even if you sneeze, right?" Kami got her answer as Maka nodded her head. "The only way to break the curse of the powder is when the two bodies share a very strong spiritual bond- either very strong love or hate."

"That's so risky!" Maka incredulously said, not willing to believe her mother was a gambler.

"Well, I believed in you two," Kami smiled slyly, to the point that it could have been mistaken for evilly. "But this isn't really the time to stand here, is it? Maka, you have to tell Soul your true feelings before he leaves. He deserves to know."

"It's too late now," Maka shook her head, as she hopelessly looked up at the clock in the living room. "I will never be able to make it to the airport in an hour."

"And that's where we come in!" A voice singsonged from behind. Maka immediately turned around to see herself face to face with her raven haired friend.

"T-Tsubaki?" Maka asked, bewildered. "When did you come here?"

"She came here quite a while ago," Kami answered for the black haired teenager. "We bumped into each other in the hallway. I asked her to wait outside and that I'd give her a signal to come in. Thank you for being so patient, Tsubaki."

"It's no problem Ms. Nabla- I mean Mrs. Albarn!" Tsubaki reassured Kami. "Maka, Kid is waiting for you downstairs with a car, hurry up and go!"

"Wh-What?"

"It's called operation 'SOMA,'" Tsubaki informed her happily and excitedly. "It's an operation in which our two dearest friends get a happily-ever-after ending, so hurry up and-" Tsubaki stopped midsentence to shove Maka out the door. "- _go_!"

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"C-_Crona_?" Maka asked, talking to her friend's purple tinted hair instead of her face. "What are you doing in Kid's car?"

"I-I'm here to give you this," Crona handed Maka a photograph. Maka took it and widened her eyes.

"Isn't this...?"

"Y-Yeah, it's from English class. It's you, Soul and your flour baby. I-I figured you would want to give something to S-Soul to remember you by, s-since he is leaving." Crona refused to meet eye contact with Maka.

"T-Thanks!" Maka grinned, taking the photograph. She was a bit curious as to why Crona had that picture, but she graciously took it. Some things were left better unknown.

The car skidded down the road and whizzed by four cars ahead of them. "G-Geez Kid! You're going way too fast! Slow down a bit!" Maka ordered him, clutching the back of the shotgun seat.

"Sorry, operation 'SOMA' has no slow-down button," Kid bluntly replied, going even faster than before.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

Soul glanced at his airplane ticket. Thirty more minutes left. He already said his goodbyes to Black Star and his family, so he didn't really know _what_ he was waiting for.

"I might as well go in," Soul mumbled to himself, as he took his suitcases. He walked towards the airport lane going to England, when he was harshly stopped by a pair of hands.

"Hey!" A voice energetically called out to him, the face belonging to the voice smiling nervously at Soul.

"...You have_ got _to be kidding me." Soul groaned, smacking his face with his hands.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Maka, it's too complicated to park near here, so you're going to have to get off by yourself," Kid informed her. "Good luck!"

"T-Thank you so, so much Kid! Thank you Crona!" Maka rapidly got off the car and waved back at them gratefully.

She ran into the airport, just to be smothered by tons of people. She couldn't even see where all the lanes _were_. She desperately searched, but the airport was too big! She could feel hot tears forming- not because she was sad, but because she was angry and irritated. She was so, _so_ close!

"Follow me, Maka!" A pair of warm hands held her own. Maka wiped her eyes clear of any potential tears and saw herself face to face with...

"K-_Kim_?"

"Ox told me everything," Kim nodded, as she rapidly avoided the numerous people in their way. "I'm sorry about how I treated you. I had no idea how to repay you back, especially since you patched things up between Ox and me. I-I know this won't be enough for you to forgive me, but I hope it will at least bring us on better terms."

"D-Definitely!" Maka smiled, glad to know that Kim was maybe as sweet as Ox made her out to be.

"It's on this floor, it's right there!" Kim pointed. "Look, there's Soul! G-Good luck!"

"Thank you so much, Kim!" Maka waved back at Kim, as she ran towards the white haired boy.

X**o**xOx**o**_Xo_xO**x**

"Why the hell are you bothering me?" Soul growled, as he picked up his suitcase to leave.

"C-Come on! It's been so long!" The blonde boy shook his hands, still remembering the punch that Soul had thrown him. "Let's catch up!"

"I thought we hated each other's guts?" Soul scowled at Hiro. "You're keep blocking me from going in the airport, it's almost like you're..._delaying _me. Are you trying to get me late?"

"H-He's not delaying you!" Ox interrupted, smiling nervously at the overly suspicious silver haired teenager.

"And why are_ you_ here again?" Soul rose one of his eyebrows at Ox. "What is up with you people? You guys are so weird, I swear if someone else calls my name one more time, I'll-"

"_Soul_!"

Soul widened his eyes at the voice and immediately stopped saying whatever he had to say. His body turned stiff, and he didn't even notice Ox and Hiro quietly walking away from him, high-fiving Maka on the way.

"M-Maka?" He stuttered the name, slowly turning his frozen body around to see the blonde haired girl in front of him. She was panting and trying to catch her breath, so he tried to say something instead but no words would come out of his mouth. Was he dreaming or was this really happening?

"I-I love you too, Soul," she finally admitted, tears falling down her face. "And I'll wait for you until you come back. I-I'll always wait for you, no matter how long it takes because...because I love you."

"M-Maka, I-" Soul was clearly flustered, and he struggled to respond in coherent sentences.

"But I meant what I said before: don't message me, don't text me, don't call me, don't visit me, don't write to me. Don't even pretend you know me...don't do any of these things unless you're back- unless you're back for good, and here to stay." Maka ordered firmly.

"But then why -"

"It's because I don't think I'll be able to stand it," Maka smiled reassuringly at him, taking his hands into her own. "If I have a part of you, I'll keep wanting more and more until I'll need your whole self. So just...disappear for now. You have to promise to come back as a successful musician, all right? I'll kill you if you don't! I won't even take you back!" She threatened lightly.

"I promise I'll be the best musician in the world." He grinned cockily, feelings of joy pulsing through his veins. He could feel his heart racing in a rate of what seemed like a thousand miles per second, and the world around him seemed to spin out of control.

"Maka, I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time: everything's _yours_. My music, my lyrics, my notes- they're all yours," he told her, looking at her straight in the eyes, before he kissed her on the lips.

And there they stood there, doing something Maka had always scorn every couple she met or saw for doing: kissing in public with no shame!

Wait, did she just say _couple_?

Maka giggled at the thought, causing Soul to look back at her, dumbfounded.

"_What_?" He wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"N-Nothing!" She reassured him with a great, bright smile. "It's because I'm really happy! Now go before you miss your flight!"

He nodded in agreement, his movement suddenly sluggish. "Maka, do I really have to -"

"_Yes_!" She instantly replied, pushing him towards the airport lane. She subtly placed the picture she obtained from Crona into his sweater pocket, making sure he didn't notice a thing.

"Ugh..._fine_." He reluctantly said, slowly going towards the direction of the airport lane. Maka stood there, fondly watching his backside as he went to board his flight. He stopped midway, however, and waved happily at Maka. "Maka!"

She looked quizzically up at him.

"Always remember I love you too! Even if I leave you, even if I'm not by your side, even if we're separated, I will _always_ be the person who loves you most!"

She enthusiastically nodded her head in approval, and with that positive response, he took off to another country with half of her future and _all_ of her heart.

* * *

**A/N: I kept listening to "Words I Couldn't Say" by Leighton Meester as I wrote this chapter. :D**

**Who knew that Ms. Nablar was actually Maka's mom? I know CookieTheif figured it out! Hahaha she's awesome and very attentive. :3 **

**Anyways, wow! One more chapter left! Everyone should review this chapter so they can be in the 'dedicated' section- it's your last chance! :D Hopefully this is a better separating chapter than the last one, where people said it was too depressing haha. I wanted a chapter where everyone 'SOMA' (aka Soul/Maka, derf) got close to over the year helped them out together in the end C:. I've planned this whole story out from beginning to end 6 months ago, and I'm glad it didn't change much from what I originally planned. I'm going to miss it a lot when it ends! :'D **


	17. The One With The Happy Ending

**A/N: Full A/N at end. **

**Also, I didn't edit. I really hate editing. So excuse me for stupid grammatical errors or typos. **

**Warning: **Sexual implications. (Do people still write warnings for this?)

**Dedicated to:** Poisoned Scarlet, nightsong12, Mtsr, xxAmeterasu, inquiete, grayqueen, CherriiBee216, SAHCB, Alik Takeda, xXSoulessEmotionXx, AliceUnknown, kaykay, CookieTheif, mietze, cloudy eve, crazychick1313, vanila-chan, saphren, firefairy412, ZombieChick422, xJETx, Charyii, JLuvForbidZ, Pugy the Fluffy, Ironinkpen, MakaEvans95, Kisumido, natabee, XxhoneyleafxX, simpleprod, KHloverxcyn, Seddie star, NightRules, IJustAD, sleep-silent, cheng, GoldenHeart333, SOMA. 3, She'sThunderstorm, Saop, Ochibi4me, PrankK1ng, Rising Twin Dragons, mayakat99, goodviibes, Shaded Moon Alchemist, Well then, lilanimecrazy88, Chocolate devil, OtakuGirlsOUO, AsphyxiatedSoul22, xxXSweetMelodiesXxx, Flamin-Massacre, HevenlyDemonicAngel, Jiin-Chan, haha, Rimivi, XxTwilightteamEdwardxX, Chedtim, Glass In The Trees, sherry yuki, NaLu xxxx, AlyCatt14, Mrs. Rivaille, I'mnotsorryforleaving, EndlessSky26, Acemoneybags, TheSilverSandwich, Crimson Orbs, emachookie, DarkShadow1704, Thunderbreeze, TiffaChan, animefreak2119, E.C Silence, Emmamoons, ElectricStars, CheeseyWonder221, IceCreamCookie, SuperVict, DazeDandBoreD, fanfic critique, bluemacaroons, Jewelz Experimental, internetchicken, Kageroudays, Kiki1770, Annabelle, TheSecretMarauder, missmena-nya, MYMYTHEGREAT, Yama-chan, roan, keltieful, princessarmstrong, Princess-Orlaith, Nat the Kat.

* * *

**Chapter 17:** The One With The Happy Ending

"Maka, look _this_ way!" An impatient voice from above her asked, before he started rapidly clicking the top of his camera. "Show more _emotion_, it's okay to smile!"

Maka groaned inwardly and forced a smile upon her face, finding it hard not to blink when the lights flashed. Her legs were stiff from being stationary in that one specific spot, and her back ached, but she remained frozen as the man in front of her proceeded to take more pictures.

"Maka, we only have fifteen more frames left, you're doing great. Just bend your leg a little more towards me," the man instructed followed by rapid shuttering.

'_Just a little more...just a little more and you're done.'_ Maka encouraged herself, as she struggled to contort her legs in the perfect position.

"Finished!" The photographer declared, a little louder than necessary. Maka sighed in relief, as she positioned her legs in a more comfortable position. She looked up when she saw a hand stretched out in front of her.

"It was a great honor working with you, Maka." The photographer gushed, as he fiercely shook Maka's hand.

"Oh no, no. The honor's all mine." Maka replied modestly. It was her fourth year into this business and she knew better than to express her true feelings on her face.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

"Here, I brought you some coffee," a chestnut haired man nonchalantly said, as he handed a steaming cup to the musician. "You're going to collapse of sleep deprivation at the rate you're going."

"Thanks." The white haired pianist flatly said, as he took the cup. He could smell the bitterness of the coffee from its strong aroma and opted to just leave it on top of the piano in front of him.

"What're you up to?" His brunette friend asked him, as he plopped down on a chair next to him. He glanced over, saw the colorful magazine his friend was absorbed in and sighed. "Oh god, not _again_."

The exhausted response caught the attention of the silver haired musician. "What?" He slit his ember colored eyes in defense.

"Soul, dude, you're _always_ looking at the picture of that same model. Don't you ever get sick of her? I mean, I know she's hot and all. After all, she is _the_ Maka Albarn, but this is starting to get obsessive."

"Blah, what do you know?" Soul retorted back, as he immersed himself in the fashion magazine once gain. He grinned when he saw a picture of a particular blonde smiling brightly, showing off the brand clothes she was wearing. She looked happy, and in turn that made him happy. "This is so uncharacteristic of you, pigtails." He muttered under his breath as he smiled one of his signature crooked smiles.

"What did you say?" His friend inquired.

"Nothing to you," Soul bluntly replied back.

"Whatever, man." His friend shook his head in defeat. "I just don't get you – despite all the fans and love letters you receive on a daily basis, you choose to be alone. I don't understand why you're just hung up obsessing over a model that doesn't even know who you are. Ha, in fact, instead of obsessing over her in magazines, why don't you just go and meet her? I'm sure she'll love to meet you. After all, you are _the _Soul Eater Evans."

Soul shuffled around in his chair. "What do you mean by that? That I'm _the_ Soul Eater Evans?"

"Oh come on now," his friend snorted, throwing Soul a dirty look. "Let's not pretend we're all modest good-guy over here. You know for a fact that you're the entire package – smart, handsome, and the best musician in the country, if not the world."

"_What_?" Soul asked, sincerely surprised by the way he was being described - especially the last part. "You really think I'm the best musician in the country?"

"Think? Dude, I _know_. And you should too, why else would you always be on newspapers, magazines, advertisements…I could go on." His friend stopped for a brief moment and looked at Soul with an accusing face. "Wait a minute…you're not asking me all these questions because you want me to compliment you now, are you?"

"No, what the hell man. I'm not that uncool." Soul rolled his eyes. "It's just…I made a promise to a girl. I wonder if I could fulfill it now. I wonder…if I could finally see her now?"

"A girl?" His friend widened his eyes at the prospect of Soul being even remotely interested in another person. For the past five years he knew Soul, he didn't even bat an eyelash at another girl, no matter how hot or how desperate. "What girl?"

"The love of my life," Soul chirped, his eyes softening in a way that the brunette never saw before. It completely threw him off.

"Ha." The brunette managed to choke out. He was still trying to recover from a love-stricken Soul. "Be careful now, _Maka_ might get jealous." He joked, pointing to the magazine where the gorgeous blonde girl smiled.

"Nah, she'll understand." Soul smirked, before he decided to make a few calls to determine the location of his next concert.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

"GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!" Maka heard the squeal from a mile away. Her green eyes darted towards the door, where sure enough she found the tall blonde girl jumping up and down in excitement. Maka noticed she was tightly clutching a newspaper in her hand.

"What is it Liz?" The other blonde asked her sister, her eyes wide in wonder.

"Patty, Maka, today is the best day of my life!" She decided as she hugged the two in happiness. "Guess what beautiful thing I read in the newspaper today!"

"They found a cure to cancer?" Maka unenthusiastically replied back. If there was anything she learned about Liz in the past five years she had known her, it was that she overreacted to every little thing.

"No, no!" Liz shook her head, the excitement in her eyes dulling. "Who cares about stupid scientific things like that?"

Maka cringed. Spoken like a true model.

"Stop keeping us waiting and just spill the beans!" Her hyperactive sister encouraged, as she impatiently jumped up and down. "I hate waiting!"

"Well you know that super hot musician I'm completely in love with?" Liz started, and Maka could feel her hands already start to sweat and clamp up. "Soul Eater Evans?"

Maka suddenly found her throat constrict and dry up. Her heart beat rapidly, and she felt beads of sweat start to form at the top of her forehead. She quickly excused herself from the conversation, and headed to the washroom.

She avoided the topic of _him _as much as she could. In fact, she avoided even thinking about him. It always ended the same way – her in tears, crying in the arms of her dark haired best friend who stuck with her all those years.

The first few months after his departure were awful. Everyday felt like a slow-motion movie. More than once she found herself in the corner of her dorm room clutching onto the telephone, tempted to call him. Just to hear his voice, to hear him tell her that everything was going to be okay in that smooth voice of his. To know that he was thinking of her as much as she was thinking of him, and to let her know he would come back to her life again. It was pathetic, she had to admit, but what could a teenage girl who had issues with love and commitment do when she finally did find the right one and he left?

But then one day, everything changed. It was the day she heard his name again after many months had gone by. He was in the newspaper for being a "blossoming" musician everyone in the music world had their eyes on. There was something about his dark yet soothing melody that captivating all those who heard his lively melodies. It was at that exact moment that she decided she needed to stop all this madness. She was drowning in her sorrow; staying at the same place she was when he had left while he was making something of his life. Everyone was moving on and she was the only one who stubbornly wanted to stay. It was all going to change.

And it did. Her life would never be the same after that trip in the mall she went on with Kid. She was looking for some art supplies for that art class she took to complete her art minor. A man went up to her and asked her if she had ever thought of modeling, because she had the perfect legs and body for the job. She scoffed at the absurdity of it all, but after hearing of the benefits she couldn't help but take it up as a part time job. She was paying for university all on her own – she didn't want any of her father's "dirty" money – and modeling was a perfect way to earn that money fast.

But deep inside she knew the true reason why she took the job. If it was only for the money, she could have quit a long time ago. The pay was ridiculously high, especially since she became somewhat of a popular model, and now she had enough to attend university twice if she wanted to. The real reason was…

The white haired musician she felt so fondly for flitted through her head as she thought about being in magazines. It would be her way to telling him that she was okay – and maybe, quite possibly, if she became famous enough she would be good enough for him in the public's eyes. When he came back to her, she would be a famous model – fitting for such a superstar such as him.

Maka turned off the faucet and looked at herself in the mirror, water dripping down her face. She came to the bathroom to wash her face and clear her mind, but she ended up thinking too much again. She examined her appearance and sighed. What did people see in her?

She traced the outline of her reflection in the mirror as huge green eyes stared back at her. Time had been kind to her, and she grew from a clumsy yet pretty girl to a remarkably gorgeous woman. Her silky blonde hair grew out and they cascaded down her back in soft curls. Her green eyes still maintained their innocence and sparkled back at those who stared at her. Her cheeks were tinted a rosy red in contrast to her porcelain white skin, and her lips were irresistibly kissable. There was no denying the depth of her beauty, yet when she looked at herself all she saw was the same plain girl from high school. She sighed once again.

"Maka?" A voice softly called out, interrupting her thoughts. Maka looked up at the direction of the voice, startled before calming down as she saw whom the voice belonged to.

"What's up Liz?" Maka forced a smile on her face, complementing her pretty features.

"Is everything alright?" The blonde model asked worriedly, looking at the dripping wet Maka. "You just ran off, I was worried something happened."

"No, no," Maka reassured her. "I'm fine, just a little tired."

Liz's suddenly worried face was replaced by a cunning smile. "Let me guess, Kid kept you up all night?" She winked at the mention of her dark haired best friend and smiled as she watched Maka's face turn bright red.

"N-no!" Maka stammered out loud, her eyes bugging out of her face. "I told you, Liz! Kid's not like that! He's just a good friend!" Patty, who had just walked into the bathroom, scrunched her face up at the mention of the raven-haired tycoon.

"Friend?" Liz laughed out. "Is _that _what they're calling it now?"

Maka's face grew increasingly redder as she tried to think of how to reply. There was no winning with this girl. She was convinced that her and Kid were an item, as well as a bunch of other magazine editors, as seen in the tabloids. When the media got ahold of the information that Kid and her went to the same high school, _and _they were well known as the best of friends, the media went crazy. Especially because of who Kid was.

Over the five years since Soul had left, Kid took over his family's company and became known as a ruthless businessman who despite his cold heart, was acknowledged as a business genius. He had quickly lifted his company from the top ten wealthiest businesses to the top three, refusing to stop working so hard until he reached number one. Maka and Kid still frequently kept in touch, since Kid still showed only his goofy, symmetry-obsessed side to Maka.

So it was an inevitable thing that the media would eventually catch them grabbing a quick bite together, or attending parties together as a couple. Those around them were startled at how carefree and almost childlike Kid turned in front of the famous supermodel, and speculation of their relationship were always splashed across the headlines of the most famous gossip magazines. Caption after caption were sewn onto each picture: "Business Tycoon Kid's Frozen Heart Melted by the Beautitful Supermodel Maka?" "Kid's Kid Side Shows When Together with Maka!" "Maka and Kid: Engaged?"

Maka had to roll her eyes at every new headline involving them together. Although people were overwhelmingly supportive of the two couple - "They are _so_ perfect for each other!" - Maka and Kid both knew they would never be an item. But people were people, and no matter how many times they both denied a romantic relationship, they only heard what they wanted to hear and see what they wanted to see.

Maka had to admit she was a bit nervous that a certain white-haired person might have seen the articles as well, but she figured he knew her well enough to know the only person she loved was him. Maka's heart started to constrict once again at the thought of him. As much as she wanted to deny it, she was slowly starting to forget things about him. How he sounded, how he smelled, how he _looked _even. But the one thing she could not forget was the way he made her feel, and that feeling was so overwhelming, so powerful that it was all she needed to faithfully remain waiting for him.

"—is that okay with you then, Maka?" Liz asked suddenly, waking Maka up from the little trance she was in. She subconsciously nodded her head at the question, not fully aware of what she was asked. She quickly became alert when she heard squeaking coming from the two sisters.

"Wait, what?" She asked. She had no idea what they were talking about, but suddenly both of the sisters looked extremely excited, and they were giggling to themselves hysterically. If the past was any indication of the future, Maka knew this behavior was nothing but trouble.

"Too late!" Liz grinned, taking Maka's hand. "You already said you would!"

"I would what?" Maka asked, starting to get a bit irritated.

"You said you're willing to go on that blind date I've been trying to get you to go on. You know, to prove you're not with Kid!" Liz grinned even wider, with Patty in the background nodding happily in support.

"Wait _what?_" Maka asked again. She was fully aware of what they said but she couldn't believe the absurdity of it. "No! I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying before, my mind zoned out! I told you I can't go on any blind dates, I refuse!"

Liz squinted her eyes and pursed her lips, slowly swirling her blonde hair with her neatly done nails. "Why can't you go on any dates, huh? Is there a specific reason? Or particularly a specific _someone_?"

"I told you there was!" Maka cried out. "I told you there's someone I love, very, very much."

"Lies!" Liz argued. "Ever since you've been in this business, you keep telling us that but we have not seen a single picture of him! You barely talk about him, and every time he comes up, you just try to avoid the conversation. We never see you talking to him, he's never in any of your photo launch parties, hell, we don't even know his _name_!We've been friends with you for four years, and you can't even tell us that? Just be honest Maka, he doesn't exist!"

Maka squirmed uncomfortably in front of the two blonde sisters, one looking very angry and the other looking offended. "He does exist…" she started slowly, her eyes downcast. "I just…there's a reason why he's invisible in my life at this moment. It's just…we made a promise…"

"Is Kid the person you made that promise to?"

"Huh?" Maka looked up, surprised from Patty's soft voice. "What? No…"

"Then it's settled!" Liz decided. "You're going on that blind date, no excuses! If you don't go, then I'll never talk to you again! Well…okay, not ever again. But for a long, long time!"

"Ugh…" Maka groaned, knowing there was no way she could worm her way out of this one.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

"Here are the files you asked for, Soul," the brunette haired man sighed, dropping a manila envelope on top of said white haired man.

"Thanks." Soul grinned, opening the package in front of him. He had six more hours on the plane before he arrived at his destined location, so he figured he might as well read the files.

"You have no idea how hard it was to get this information," his assistant slash friend groaned, rubbing his temples together. "She's a very private person. We had to seriously use almost all our connections to find out where she lived."

"Good job." Soul simply stated, smiling his sharp-toothed grin.

"You know…" The brunette started hesitantly. "I was just joking about the whole actually going up to Maka Albarn and meeting her, you know…I'm pretty sure what you're doing is kind of stalkerish…not to mention she has a boyfriend…"

"What?" The last bit caught Soul's attention, and his brilliant ruby red eyes narrowed.

"W-well," the friend stammered, a bit taken aback by the musician's icy stare. "Haven't you read any of the news headlines? That business tycoon Kid and Maka are an item, they're always being seen together in public."

"Don't. Ever. Talk. About. Symmetry. Again." Soul simply stated, staring straight at the frightened assistant, before going back to reading the files.

"Musicians really are crazy…" the chestnut haired acquaintance muttered to himself, before putting on his sleep mask, ready to sleep the six hour flight away.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

"You heard the news?" Tsubaki asked the raven-haired person across from her, as she sipped on her chamomile tea.

"What?" Kid answered back lazily, setting down his cup of black coffee on the fancy china. "About that stupid white haired moron who made our best friend miserable for the past five years and a half? Asshole sure comes back with a splash."

Tsubaki chuckled, knowing full well that although Kid no longer had feelings for Maka, he was still overly protective over her. They were, after all, friends before she joined the crew. "I'm sure Maka's heard about it by now, but she hasn't said anything about it yet."

"That's because she avoids anything and everything that has to do with him." Kid shrugged. "Not that I blame her."

"You know…" Tsubaki thoughtfully said. "If he's returning to the states…does that mean he's here for Maka? He is, after all, an extremely renowned musician. He's one of the most famous in the country, if not the most."

"Probably." Kid curtly said. He jumped when Tsubaki squealed.

"I heard from my sources that he's on a plane here right now, he might even have landed! Oh this is _so _exciting! I wonder if he knows where Maka lives?"

"Wha-" Kid looked at Tsubaki suspiciously. "I have lots of connections from my business, so I knew about his flight…but what kind of sources do _you _have that you know of his actions?"

Tsubaki reddened so much, even her ears colored a red hue. "U-Umm, well that is…"

"Blah," Kid shook his hand dismissively. "I can already guess. Your stupid husband's a spy for government, isn't he? He probably knows as much as I do at this point, which is shocking since he was such an idiot back in high school."

"Ho-how did you know?" Tsubaki's eyes widened. One of the biggest requirements of being a spy was secrecy and sleuth, so Tsubaki refused to ever tell anyone what her husband did. She just told them he worked overseas a lot, and people seemed to be satisfied with her vague answer. She hadn't even told her two closest friends, yet one of them already knew.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Kid shrugged. "Your secret's safe with us. Besides, Maka and I already knew from the beginning that's what Black Star wanted to be, even before you did. He actually came to us, asking for advice since he knew it was going to be a tough life and he was afraid of dragging you into it."

"—And you're telling me this _now?_" Tsubaki widened her eyes at the new revelation. "I'm actually offended! I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other!"

"…And yet you didn't tell Maka nor me that your husband was a spy."

Tsubaki silenced immediately after that. Sometimes she forgot he was also "Kid the genius businessman," and he knew each and every little counterargument to anything he was thrown. No wonder he flew to the top, she thought wistfully, both proud and annoyed at her friend's accomplishments.

"You suck," was all she managed to tell him, before she told him she needed to return to the nearby elementary school, where she taught first graders. But she didn't miss the genuine warm smile he gave her, acknowledging her insult as more of a compliment, and she couldn't help but smile as well.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

Maka sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, as she stared at herself in her bedroom mirror. Liz and Patty had just stopped by with their makeup and dress crew, and they fancied up her all up for the blind date. She wasn't sure what kind of look they were going for, but if she had to sum it up in one word: _smokinghot. _

Okay, fine, smoking hot was not one word. But it was the best way to describe how she looked at the moment. She rarely ever found herself pretty, or even beautiful, but she had to admit she looked stunning the way she was right now.

Her silky blonde hair was done in soft curls, which loosely cascaded down the side of her head. The curls were all pushed to one side by a crystal butterfly hairpin, and a side waterfall French braid ran down the other side, before it was also clipped to the other side, joining the bed of curls. Liz had insisted she put on the smoky eye shadow look since it matched the dress. At first, Maka had vehemently refused both the makeup and dress for fear of looking like a hooker. However, the outcome was surprisingly wonderful. The smoky makeup accented the shape of her round eyes, while also bringing attention to the rich green in her bright emerald eyes. She had on bright red lipstick, and she had to admit she looked like one of those old, classic Hollywood movie actresses.

Maka stood up on her black pumps, and did a little twirl in front of the mirror. She had on a classic black dress that stuck onto her, showing off her desirable curves. To accessorize her dress, she put on a diamond necklace, along with a pair of diamond pearl earrings. The longer Maka looked at her outfit, the more uncomfortable she felt. She bit her lip, as she rotated her body in front of the mirror once more.

She was stunning, she knew at least that much. But it bothered her that a person who wasn't…a certain white haired person would see it. _Was this considered cheating?_

Maka nervously pulled at the hem of the dress. Suddenly it seemed too short, too _showy._

"_You better arrive at the Royal Palace Hotel Restaurant at eight o' clock sharp!" _Liz's stern voice echoed in Maka's mind, reminding her she had an obligation to fulfill.

"But I can't…" Maka whispered to herself, feeling more bothered by the idea of pseudo-cheating than breaking a promise. She was debating on whether she should at least see the person she was supposed to go on a date with and tell him about her situation, or simply cancel by phone and save herself the trouble, when she heard the doorbell to her penthouse apartment ring.

'_Who?'_ Maka thought to herself, racking her brain trying to remember if she had any visitors she was expecting.

Lost in her thoughts, and not even bothering to turn on her camera to see who was at the door, she opened the door and –

Red eyes met green eyes.

Her heart stopped. Time stopped. Movement stopped.

It felt like hours had gone by before one of them managed to speak.

"…Wow." She finally heard the voice say, confirming that the person in front of her wasn't a mirage, an illusion, or the figment of her imagination. It was actually…

"_Soul_?" She unsurely asked, uttering his name for the first time in many, many years.

He grinned that shark-toothed grin of his that she loved oh so much and nodded. Before he could say anything else, she ran into him, almost knocking him off his feet with the force she used to fall into him.

He was taller, leaner, more muscular…more mature. But his spiky white hair, his lazy demeanor, his shark toothed grin and the gentle yet tight way he held her…it was all the same.

Tear started to fall down her eyes, and she didn't even realize she was crying until he broke their embrace and wiped them away with his soft hand, gently whispering, "Don't cry."

"Y-You're back." She stuttered, saying the words she repeated over and over again in her head night after night after he left, dreaming of the day she would be able to say it to him in person like she did just now.

"For good." He confirmed, giving her a reassuring smile, before locking her into another tight embrace. She broke into a huge smile, and hugged him back, feeling the happiest she had ever felt in her entire life.

"I missed you." She softy said, barely above a whisper. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He answered, holding her even tighter. She suddenly looked puzzled when he abruptly pulled away, and she knew immediately why when he glanced at her up and down.

"I—um." She hesitated, unsure of how to explain why she was so dressed up.

"So, little pigtails grew up to be a bombshell, huh?" He teased, instantly cutting any air of awkwardness between the two that may have grown over the long time they were apart.

She lightly pushed him back, cutely pouting with her seductive red lips puffing out.

"Stop staring, pervert!" She teased, lifting her arms to Maka-chop him. But her hands never made it to his head, as he grabbed them midair, and kissed her. First softly, and when he felt her kiss him back, he started to kiss her more passionately.

Their kisses started to get more heated up, as they both tried to sum up all their pent up, bottled feelings toward each other in the past five years into the kiss. But the gravity of such emotion was impossible to convey in just kissing, and before either of them could think, she felt herself dragging him inside her apartment building, leading him to her bedroom door. Thinking back on this memory in the distant future, she wondered how they were able to make it to her bed.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

Soul felt like he was on top of the world.

"You're officially mine." Maka heard Soul whisper. She groaned as she felt Soul leave her entrance. He fell back down beside her on the bed, immediately taking her in his arms into a spooning position.

"Are you okay?" He breathlessly asked, tucking her loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine," she lied, hoping if she squeezed her eyes tight enough, the pain would eventually subside. "But you could have gone slower, it wasn't a race." She flatly stated, a bit annoyed she couldn't enjoy both their first time as much as he did. She felt his warm breath as he chuckled, and she felt him kiss her at the back of her head.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, holding her even tighter. "I couldn't control myself, especially with the way you looked and the way you were dressed…which reminds me. I was going to ask you before we both got distracted, but were you on your way somewhere? Why were you so dressed up?"

Maka's eyes widened like saucers, and she gasped as she broke from Soul's embrace and immediately flew to the digital clock next to her bed.

"Oh my God, I'm so late!" Maka cried out, looking at the numbers that read 9:58pm. "I was supposed to go on a date today!"

Soul felt his heart drop, cracking into a million pieces. "W-What?" He managed to choke out, looking at her completely naked body, before looking at his own. "Maka, we just—"

"I know, I know!" Maka bit her lip, trying to find a way to properly explain the situation. "Look, I didn't say I was in love with the kid or anything."

"Oh. Like that makes it any better." He flatly replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she shook her head, kissing him on top of his forehead. "I have a friend named Liz who keeps pestering me about Kid. I told her I wasn't in love with Kid, and she wouldn't believe me, so she forced me to go out on this stupid blind date to prove it."

"And so you were gonna go?" Soul sourly asked. "Dressed like _that_?"

"N-no!" Maka quickly answered, trying to remember why she ever befriended that blonde troublemaker in the first place. "I was debating on whether I should just call to cancel or go there personally to tell him, when you rang my door."

"Huh." Soul replied, still visibly upset. He turned his head to the face the other way, grumbling some words under his breath about too tight dresses and the sexual implications red lipstick gave off. She sighed, a small smile tugging at her face. He was really cute when he was jealous.

She slyly got on top of him, quickly grabbing his attention, and whispered in his ear, "Soul, there's no need to be jealous. I love you and _only _you. You're mine and…_I'm all yours._"

Soul turned red at her words, and the fact that her bare chest was basically pressing against him. He stuttered, "I-I'm not jealous, you stupid pigtails."

Maka grinned at this bashful side of him, and was planning on poking some more fun at it, when she felt tight arms hold her, and swing her around so they switched positions and she was on the bottom and he was on top.

"So you're all mine, right?" He smirked, outlining his sharp teeth with his tongue. Damn, he recovered fast. Maka felt flushed as he looked at her hungrily, lust clouding his eyes. "You know, five years is a helluvah lot of time…all this pent up frustration…"

She could feel her face get redder and redder, and she was wondering how many more hickies she could possibly cover up with makeup, when she heard the doorbell ring.

_Ding-dong! _

"Ignore it." Soul commanded, as he held her down even tighter.

"B-But Soul, I—"

_Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!_

"What the he—" Soul glared, turning his head to the bedroom door, where he could see the main door, located quite a distance away.

_Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!_

"If that's who I think it is," Maka groaned, "then believe me, we can't just _ignore_ it - or rather - her."

Soul raised his eyebrows at her statement, but his questions were quickly answered by a loud, obnoxious voice that quickly followed the succession of rings.

"MAKA ALBARN!" The voice screamed, as the owner of the voice pounded on her door. "I know you're in there, you little vixen! You better open this door right now, or I'll break it down! You know I'm serious, you've seen me do it before …YOU KNOW I'LL DO IT!"

"…debt collector?" Soul jokingly guessed.

"I wish." Maka sighed. "It's the friend I was telling you about. My friend Liz. You know, the one who wanted me to go on that date."

"Oh." Soul replied, his sharp eyes narrowing. "That one."

"She's actually big fan of yours." Maka remembered.

"Is she now?" Soul raised his eyebrow up in amusement. "May I? Don't want to disappoint a fan."

"She's all yours."

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

"Maka…you…wench!" Liz whined once more. They were back at the studio, where they were getting ready for a joint photo shoot. It was around three weeks since they met face to face, since Maka deftly avoided her phone calls and Soul made it clear to Liz not to bother either of them at the apartment. Since Maka didn't have anything scheduled during those three weeks, - mostly because Soul convinced her to cancel plans - she found herself with rarely any excuse to the leave her apartment…especially with Soul with her the entire time, keeping her _very_ occupied with activities…

"I can't believe you betrayed me like that!" Liz continued on her mini rant. "To think the person you were dating was…_oh my god_! That was why you avoided me like the plague every time I talked about him! You conniving wench!"

Maka just shook her head at the overly excitable blonde, but she couldn't help the small smile that curved up her lip. This did not go unnoticed by Liz.

"Look at her smiling dumbly like that! I mean, I would too, if my invisible lover – that I could've sworn was made up! – was none other than the super hot Soul Eater Evans! Ahhhh Maka you wench! How could you not tell me! Whyyyyy." Liz droned on.

"Liz, I already said I'm sorry!" Maka finally exploded, scaring the makeup artist who was carefully applying eyeliner on her bright green eyes. "Besides, I explained everything that happened between us and our whole high school story, didn't I? Don't I at least get some credit?"

"No!" Liz snapped right back. "If you had told me that Soul Eater Evans was the person you were with, I would've stopped pestering you about Kid all those years! The only reason why I bothered you so much about your love life was because Patty and I were both convinced you were in love with Kid, and it broke Patty's heart because she—" Liz immediately stopped when she realized what she said, and her hands flew on top of her mouth. It was too late.

"Patty likes Kid?!" Maka exclaimed, trying to digest in the new information. "No wonder you guys kept bugging me about Kid! Patty did seem especially down whenever there was a new news article about us two…"

"Yeah, but don't tell her I told you! It was supposed to be a secret," Liz made Maka promise. "She was afraid of telling you because she wasn't sure if you were lying or not about being Kid's lover. She's been stuck in this loop for so long, where she wants to be happy and pursue him, but at the same time really values your friendship so doesn't want to step over any boundaries. I guess now that we know for a fact you're with freaking _Soul Eater Evans_, she can finally pursue her crush!"

"Wow, I had no idea." Maka admitted, feeling a pang of guilt for hiding the identity of her lover and unintentionally causing distress for her friend.

"Yeah, but all's well that ends well! By the way," Liz quickly changed the subject. "You're having dinner with your_ lovah_ tonight, aren't you?"

Maka widened her eyes and blushed, not used to the way Liz called her high school sweetheart.

"U-uh, yeah. How'd you know?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Overheard you on the phone," she simply said. Then Liz brightened up. "Hey, can I dress you up and do your makeup, like I did last time for the blind date you were supposed to go on?"

Maka bit her lip uncertainly, since Liz had a reputation for bold styles, but with a deep blush Maka remembered how much Soul had enjoyed her getup the last time Liz worked on her. Maka shrugged. What was there to lose?

"Sure!"

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

Soul waited nervously at the high-end restaurant where he asked Maka to meet him. It was a rooftop restaurant on top of a sixty-six floor high skyscraper. The view from where their seats were was majestic, since it overlooked the entire city. The lights from all the surrounding skyscrapers lit the entire sky up, as well as the rooftop restaurant. Although many believed it was impossible to see the stars in an urbanized city, when he looked up, there were thousands of tiny little stars, helping the artificial lights light up the dark night sky.

Soul had just finished practicing for his upcoming concert in the states, and although he was worn out from the rigorous hours of practice, he still felt an adrenaline rush when he thought of Maka arriving.

His fingers twirled around a worn out photo, and he looked at it endearingly. When he first arrived at Europe, he felt out of place and homesick. He was both surprised and delighted when he found the family picture of him, Maka and their flour baby in his sweater pocket. He kept the picture during all those years, fondly looking at it whenever he felt lonely or down.

"Mr. Evans?" A waiter called his name, waking him up from his thoughts. "Your guest has arrived."

Soul felt his heart race, and he found his throat turn dry. _Why was he so nervous? _

"O-okay." Soul stammered, wondering how it was possible one girl could make him go from a cool Casanova to a nervous blob. He heard the sound of her heels coming closer, and he looked up to find a view of Maka that made his heart race even faster.

He knew it when they were younger and he knew it when he saw her again five years later, but he was reminded of it once again as she stood in front of him, smiling that warm smile of hers.

She was _beautiful_.

"Soul," she breathed out, her eyes twinkling at the sight of him.

She was dressed in long, strapless white dress, that went down to cover her gold strappy heels. She had on a branch-shaped gold belt in the middle of the beautiful dress that showed off her thin waist. She put on matching gold leaf earrings, and a thin gold bracelet that perfectly accessorized her simple yet elegant outfit.

Her hair let down, and was styled in a wavy, intentionally messy way. She had light silver eye shadow on, with a tint of gold blended in, which emphasized the innocence of her crystal clear emerald eyes. She wore a light pink lip stain on her soft lips, which gave color to her smooth, milky white face.

While the dress she was wearing when they reunited was beautiful in a seductive way, the way she appeared in front of him now gave her an ethereal glow, making her look like an angel.

"M-Maka," he managed out. He found it hard to breathe, and he started to tug at his tie. He wondered how he was able to be apart from her for so long. He concluded it was a good thing she made him promise to never keep contact while they were apart, because if she didn't, he would have gone back to her immediately after they separated.

She nodded and smiled happily at him in return, as she took the seat across from him. She took a look around her surroundings and happily whispered, "This place is beautiful."

"Isn't it?" He grinned, happy that she seemed to be lost in the beautiful light show.

After taking a better look at the view of the city, Maka looked around the restaurant quizzically and asked, "This restaurant only serves one couple at a time?"

Although it was a rooftop restaurant, the rooftop on top of the building was _huge_, and it certainly looked like it could fit more than a single table. However, there was only a single table in the middle of the entire rooftop at this moment, which was occupied by them. Instead of more tables, the remaining space around them was surrounded by endless rows of different flowers, coloring the whole restaurant in pastel colors. It was a perfect juxtaposition of nature and city.

Little did Maka know that on every other night, the layout of the restaurant was completely different, with dozens of other tables that served other guests. But today was a special occasion, and Soul had purposely rented out the whole restaurant so he could spend the entire night together with her in privacy.

"Y-yeah," he lied, purposely crossing his fingers behind his back. He looked at her twinkling eyes once more and had to tell her. "Maka, you look really beautiful tonight."

A light hue of pink splashed across her face, and if it was possible, her smile got even bigger and more beautiful. "Thank you, Soul. You look very handsome in your suit too."

He grinned back at her, and cockily replied, "Of course I do."

She rolled her eyes at him, and he playfully winked at her. She was secretly glad things would never change between them, and they would always have a playful, yet intense love.

"But why such a fancy restaurant?" She wondered out loud, causing Soul to have a mini heart attack. "Usually we just stay at home with takeout and laze around…"

"A-actually," Soul stuttered, his heart pounding so hard he felt it might escape from his chest. He was planning on waiting until after they were finished with dinner, but he knew he would be a nervous wreck the entire time. To stop any further suspicion and prevent ruining the surprise completely, he decided it was now or never. He slowly pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "This is for you."

"What is this?" Maka curiously looked at the fancy invitation in front of her.

"A wedding invitation." An unexplainable fear rose in Maka's chest, and she stared so intensely at the envelope, it seemed like she would bear holes into it if she stared at it any harder.

"Whose?" She finally asked, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer.

"Mine." He firmly replied back.

Maka's could almost hear her heart crack.

She suddenly found it very hard to breathe, and tears started to pool around her eyes.

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. _

But she couldn't help the tears escape down her pretty face, and she lowered her head so he wouldn't see her tear filled eyes. She didn't want to see him, or anyone else for that matter. The world around her darkened as she thought about the past three weeks.

How _stupid_ she had been!

She was blissfully spending those three weeks in her own made-up wonderland, thinking they were actually in love. Thinking he could actually still love her even after all those years apart. But he was just using her for sex, while he had a whole other life with another woman, who was actually worthy of getting married to.

But to think he had audacity to invite _her_? Did he think he was doing Maka a favor by telling her the truth before she found out some other way? _How disgusting. _No, she was beyond disgusted. She felt like throwing up.

Somewhere deep inside her, she knew that Soul truly loved her, and would never intentionally hurt her, but at that moment she couldn't think coherently. She was too shocked by the invitation that all rational thought she ever had was gone. All she could comprehend was the love of her life just gave her a wedding invitation she was unaware of. _His_ wedding invitation.

Without saying a word, she got angrily took her stuff and started to walk away.

"Maka, wait!"

She felt a hand grab her, and she tried to pull it away, but his hold on her was firm.

"Aren't you going to open it?" He asked her, his voice soft but his grip tight.

The audacity.

"H-how _dare_ you?" Maka sputtered, hot tears falling down her cheeks. "Did I really mean that little to you? Was I really that stupid? How could you do this to me?"

"Maka, listen. I—"

"No, you listen!" Maka interrupted, not done with her angry speech. "If you had even a little, a _speck_ of respect for me, you wouldn't have done this to me! Do I mean nothing to you? I don't know if your mind changed in the past five years, and I wouldn't have blamed you if it did, but don't _lead_ people on like that, Soul! You made it seem like everything was fine, perfect even. I was so happy these past few weeks, I was afraid of waking up to find that it was all a dream. I…I thought the feeling was mutual..." Maka whispered the last part, as more tears ran down her face.

Soul felt incredibly guilty for making her cry, and gently wiped off the tears from her face. He looked right in her eyes, and smiled a smile so soft she had no idea he was even capable of it. He then sighed, and rolled his eyes in amusement, which only angered her more.

But all thoughts and anger flew out the window when she saw him kneel down in front of her, bending one knee. His hand was still tightly holding hers.

"Of course you would make me propose to you in the most uncoolest way possible," he grinned. Maka's eyes widened and she suddenly felt her heart lift up. "If you had actually opened the envelope like I had hoped you would, then you would have seen it was my wedding invitation…getting married to you. It was our wedding invitation."

He continued. "I hoped that you would be so occupied reading the letter, you wouldn't have noticed me getting off my seat and kneeling down to propose to you. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to make that wedding invitation a reality."

Maka bit her lip down to stop herself from grinning foolishly. It didn't help.

"But of course, I should've known pigtails would be pigtails and nothing goes smoothly with you. But that's okay, because that's what I love about you. Life's exciting and an adventure when I'm with you. Besides, I don't blame you. I probably would've acted the same way, especially if I thought you were getting married to someone else. Actually, now that I think about it, this was one of the stupidest ways I could've proposed. In hindsight I'm an idiot. I'm sorry. But I'm hoping it's okay because my idiocy's what you love about me anyway."

Maka was softy laughing at this point, and nodded. Tears still fell down her face, but from a completely different emotion this time around.

"Maka, the time we were apart were incredibly hard for me. In the beginning, everything was really hard. Food had no taste. Things just weren't funny. Whenever I thought I couldn't see or hear from you for an indefinite amount of time, I felt lost. I wasn't even confident or sure I could make it. I couldn't stand it."

Maka looked deep into his ruby eyes, grateful he was willing to be vulnerable in front of her. He took those years apart as hard as she did.

"—But now that I thought about it deeply, I'm really, really thankful you did what you did. I realized how selfless you are. I know I'm not worthy of being loved by you, and I constantly wonder why you chose someone like me. I'm honestly terrified you'll one day realize you can do better, but the pain of losing you will be less than the pain of not having you at all in the first place. Although you might one day find someone you love more than me, or suddenly decide I'm not good enough for you, I'm confident enough to tell you that you'll never find someone who will love or treasure you as much as I will…besides, I'm hot and rich."

Maka laughed in happiness, and playfully nudged his shoulder lightly at his last remark. He grinned happily ear-to-ear, and their eyes never left each other.

"Maka, I want to devote the rest of my life making you happy. Do you think you can allow an idiot like me to be in charge of your happiness?"

Maka nodded her head happily, and wiped away her remaining tears. Soul took his free hand and reached into his suit coat pocket to pull out a tiny velvet box. He flipped it open, and in was a stunning ring with a radiant cut diamond center stone, accented by a brilliant cut trapezoid diamond on each side. Maka bit her lip in excitement.

"Maka Albarn, will you marry me?"

"_Yes_!"

Maka fell into Soul's embrace happily, as he slipped the ring on her fourth finger. Overwhelmed with emotion, they kissed under the beautiful night sky, as the stars and the city lights happily danced around them as a testimony to their love.

X**o**xOx**o**_X_oxO**x**

And a few years later, hanging up on the living room wall of their very large penthouse apartment, is a very old photo of the two when they were considerably younger, holding a flour baby in the middle. Right next to it is an identical, more recent family picture with the happy two except replacing the flour baby is a happy little baby girl.

_End._

* * *

**A/N:** **There are not enough sorry's in the world to apologize for the super long hiatus. The last time I updated was actually three days before I went off to college, and needless to say, college kept me extremely busy. Not only that, but a chain of events occurred that really broke me as a person. I wondered a lot about my self worth. A lot of days were spent laughing on the outside with my friends, but then going back to my apartment and breaking down in the shower. It took me a really long time to get out of this depressing rut and force myself to do other things. The only reason I'm still functioning as a human is thanks to my wonderful friends, who have been there for me through thick and thin. **

**Although this isn't an excuse, it is a reason for my lack of an update, and I sincerely apologize for the wait. I also sincerely thank everyone who was patiently waiting for me, or reaching out to me asking if I was okay. Thank you all, your reviews have never failed to make me smile. I hope this ending is satisfying, and while I can't promise anything, I'm actually planning a small epilogue after this chapter. I wanted to further explain what happened to everyone else. If I do end up writing an epilogue, I promise it will be uploaded within the next week. It not, I hope this ending was satisfying enough. **

**Once again, thank you all to everyone who reviewed, and I really hope you enjoyed this ending. It has been an incredible journey for me, and I hope it has been for you guys as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Forever yours, **

_Verveine_.


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